Get You Back
by Ketchupwings
Summary: Rose and Dimitri are finally together, and all seems well. But when Rose is kidnapped by a new threat, Dimitri is determined to do anything in his power to get her back. And all the while, an enemy is rising...a very familiar enemy...
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! I've always wanted to write a _Vampire Academy_ story, but didn't have any ideas: until now. So, here's the first chapter:**

 **Dimitri**

With her lightning-sharp reflexes and years of guardian training, a Strigoi attack wasn't something that could easily surprise Rose Hathaway. A bouquet of flowers, though, was apparently enough to throw her completely off track.

She stared at me, her lips slightly parted. "I – "

I grinned. "Surprised to see me?"

She struggled to regain her voice. "Yes! You're supposed to be in Europe with Christian…"

I shrugged. I had been in Europe with Christian Ozera, the royal Moroi to whom I, as a guardian, was assigned. "We finished up our business there earlier than expected and came back. Don't tell me you're not glad to see me."

Rose grinned as she sidled up towards me, taking the bouquet from me. She'd just come from training with the other guardians, and her face glistened with sweat. Ordinarily, I hated perspiration, but on her, it smelled intoxicating. "I'm always glad to see you, Comrade. It's just – unexpected. And big shows of affection aren't really your thing, anyway."

"You have a lot to find out about what is and what isn't my thing," I told her.

We were walking now, side by side, through the arches and courtyards of the Moroi Royal Court in Pennsylvania. The air was turning chillier and crisper – a sign of the rapidly approaching winter. This was where Christian lived, now, for the large part, and therefore where I lived too. It worked great for the two of us, since our girlfriends, Rose and Vasilisa "Lissa" Dragomir, queen of the Moroi, or living vampires, lived here too.

"I'm going to have to find a vase to put these in," Rose remarked, looking at the flowers. "You didn't bring these from Europe, did you?"

"I bought them at a flower shop at the airport in Philadelphia. And I'm afraid you won't have time to find a vase – at least, not right this second."

"Oh?" Her dark eyes turned upwards and met mine, sparkling with humour. "And why's that?"

"Because we're going on a date."

"We are?!"

"That's right, we are." I nodded.

"What's coming over you?" she exclaimed. "Dimitri Belikov, badass dhampir god, reduced to a hopeless romantic?"

"A nice romantic dinner," I told her. "We're off duty tonight. I know, because I checked your schedule as well as mine. No arguments."

And there were none. Twenty minutes later, she had changed into fresher, more date-worthy clothes and we were sitting opposite one another at one of the Royal Court's restaurants. Around us, off-duty guardians were lounging, enjoying their free time and laughing and joking.

"So, why the sudden gesture?" Rose indicated the table at which we sat. "I mean, I don't think Lissa will mind me taking a night off, but what's with the romance?"

"Well, partly because I love you," I said, which earned me an eye roll but a loving grin in return. "And also, on the flight back to the US, Christian was telling me about the first date he took Lissa on. And I realized that I'd never properly taken you on a date."

It was true. We'd started off mentor and mentee, both preparing to be Lissa's guardians, which had already made our relationship taboo. We'd struggled with our feelings for months, and just when we'd admitted our unconditional love to each other, there had been a Strigoi attack on the academy where we'd been living and I had been turned into a Strigoi – an undead, ruthless monster of a vampire – against my will. It was the darkest period of my life, one I'd only just managed to move past and still didn't like to think about.

After Lissa had performed an amazing feat of magic and restored me to my original dhampir form, I'd begun to hate myself for what I'd been and what I'd done, pushing Rose away and leading to her dating another man. Luckily, I'd come to my senses and realized that Rose was the only woman for me, the only woman I could ever love – and here we were.

To say the story of our relationship had been rocky was probably the understatement of the century.

Rose's eyes widened and she laughed. "I didn't realize you were so sentimental, Comrade," she teased, her dark eyes twinkling. I was struck, once more, by how beautiful she was. I couldn't imagine how I'd lived my life before her.

"It's probably your bad influence softening me," I teased right back, before reaching across the table and taking one of her hands. "Here's to our first date."

Rose's teasing expression softened. "I love you, Dimitri."

"I love you, Roza."

I reached over the table and kissed her. As always, her lips set me aflame. Fire burned through my veins, and when we broke the kiss, my entire body shuddered from the loss of contact.

From the smouldering look in Rose's eyes, it was obvious she felt the same. "You're going to follow through on that after dinner, Dimka," she said in a low, throaty voice.

I could hardly wait.

 **~~Page Break~~**

"Well!" Rose exclaimed, lying back. "I think we can safely say you followed through very nicely."

It was after dinner, and we lay on Rose's bed, in her room. Our clothes were strewn all over the room – I caught sight of my jeans hanging haphazardly off a lamp.

I stared at the ceiling, grinning, Rose cuddled up in my arm, her cheek and hand resting on my bare chest. "I told you I'd do things that'd make you lose control."

"I don't think I lost control," Rose retorted.

"Oh, no? Wait till the next round."

Rose laughed.

There was a comfortable silence. I enjoyed being with Rose, as sweaty as we were, twisted up in her sheets.

"Big day tomorrow," Rose said.

I had to agree. Tomorrow was a Council meeting, where the leaders of the Moroi nation would meet to discuss some of the hot topics that had surrounded Lissa's rule thus far. We were about three months into her reign, and already she'd earned a reputation for being one of the most dangerously liberal monarchs in Moroi history, what with her support for dhampir freedom, Moroi self-defence and pre-emptive strikes against the Strigoi.

"Let's not think about that right now," I suggested. "Let's just – be here. As corny as that sounds."

"I like corny sometimes," Rose said, as our lips met in a kiss. In that moment, I could imagine that the world was perfect. I was with the woman I loved, finally, after so many obstacles and hurdles. It seemed nothing could separate us now.

I really should've known better.

 **So, everything's okay for now...but it won't be for long. Reviews please!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey again everyone! Now for the issues:**

 **Rose**

No one ever said it was easy being a badass guardian. I just hadn't expected it to be this boring.

From the look on Lissa's face, she agreed with me. As her guardian, I was stationed near her as the Council meeting wore on, and more and more royal Moroi got up to speak and argue with each other, going in circles again and again. I took comfort from the fact that Dimitri stood next to me, but that didn't stop me from having to stifle a yawn.

"This is preposterous!" It was one of the Zeklos lords. His face was twisted in indignation as he shook his fist, spittle flying from his mouth. "The very idea of going after the Strigoi – it's totally preposterous!"

"The only thing that's preposterous," I murmured to Dimitri out of the side of my mouth, "is him using the word preposterous."

Dimitri's lips twitched, but that was the only sign he'd even heard me. Gone was the amazing, passionate sex god he'd been last night. Today, he was back in guardian mode, and wearing that careful, guarded expression I'd gotten to know so very well. Of course, that tough expression was still incredibly sexy, and I had to stop myself from salivating.

"We cannot strike the Strigoi before they strike us," the Zeklos lord continued to argue. "They'll wipe us out! Our numbers continue to dwindle as theirs continue to rise. We'll be extinct in just a few years!"

"And perhaps one of the reasons why our numbers are dwindling is because we refuse to act," drawled a familiar sarcastic voice. Christian Ozera, Lissa's infamous boyfriend and my good friend, rose to his feet. "I fail to see how standing here arguing is going to kill any Strigoi and make the situation any better."

The Zeklos man flushed red. "Well, Lord Ozera, perhaps you might enlighten us as to how you can possibly see this preposterous plan as one with merit."

"I don't need to. The evidence is right before us." Christian waved his hand. "After the Strigoi attack at St. Vladimir's a few months ago, the guardians there very bravely organized a rescue mission to save those who had been taken by the Strigoi. The mission was deemed a success – all of those who were taken were recovered."

 _Yes_ , I thought, _but one of our own was turned Strigoi_. I spared a glance to my side, but Dimitri showed no sign that he was thinking the same thoughts I was.

"The Ozera boy is right." A Moroi woman who I didn't recognize had stood and was speaking now. "It's time we stopped hiding and waited for the Strigoi to come to us and kill us. We have to take the fight to them. It's what they won't expect and they won't be prepared for it. That gives us the advantage." She hesitated. "Besides, the guardians have evidence that the Strigoi are mobilizing."

It was true. Strigoi attacks had increased in frequency on the East Coast even as they decreased on the West Coast. Sightings of Strigoi moving eastwards had been called in by Moroi, dhampirs, and Alchemists alike. Put together, these indications were extremely worrying, and a lot of people were frightened about what could possibly have motivated the Strigoi to mobilize.

"I refuse to fight the Strigoi on their terms anymore!" roared Christian.

The room burst into dozens of mini-arguments as royal and non-royal Moroi alike argued. From what I could see, the room was pretty evenly split.

"Order!" shouted Lissa. It wasn't often that I got to see her queenly side, and even I had to admit, it could be frightening. At the authority in her voice, the Moroi in the room quieted and sank back into their seats.

"Queen Vasilisa," the same Zeklos man said, an obsequious note in his voice now, "I hope you can see what a foolish idea this is. We don't even know the location of any Strigoi hideouts."

"Actually – "

All eyes swivelled to Dimitri. Some of them were narrowed in suspicion – not everyone trusted Dimitri, even now.

"I would be more than happy to divulge information regarding Strigoi movements and locations," Dimitri said. There was no weakness in his voice – this was the warrior the Moroi world had grown to know and respect. "I think you will find there are Strigoi dotted all over the East Coast – and there is, in fact, a Strigoi cell not far from here, on the outskirts of Pittsburgh."

There were cries of dismay from the crowd, including, "And you've waited until _now_ to tell us?!"

"I have shared all the information I have with the guardians," Dimitri continued, keeping his voice neutral. "With the help of the Alchemists, we have been monitoring the Strigoi. When last I heard of them, they had no designs on the Royal Court, but would most certainly not be expecting an attack on their stronghold – which grants us a strategic advantage."

The room threatened to break out clamouring again, but Lissa held up an authoritative hand. "And what is your position, Guardian Belikov?" she asked, allowing a note of wariness to creep into her voice.

Dimitri hesitated – it wasn't often that a single guardian was asked to state his opinion in front of such an important gathering. "I believe in pre-emptively striking at the Strigoi," he said at last. "We could do some real damage to them that way."

At once, the room broke out into arguments once more. By the time Lissa had gotten them to quiet back down, she was sweating visibly. Luckily for her, the meeting had come to its close. "I hereby adjourn this meeting of the Moroi Council," she said. "We will continue this tomorrow."

The Moroi in the room rose and collectively bowed, then filed obediently out. I caught whispers of dissent and dirty looks shot at Lissa. As queen, though, she managed to retain her royal posture until she was absolutely certain the last of the Moroi had properly left. Then she slumped and put her head on the desk. I could practically see her shedding her queenly persona and becoming just Lissa, my best friend, again.

"Oh, Rose," she groaned. "You have no idea how exhausting that was."

"I'm not surprised," I murmured sympathetically. "They're all a bunch of idiots."

Lissa sighed. "I think I really need to take a shower, and then I'm in the mood for TV. Meet in the media room in thirty minutes?"

"Sure thing. I'll get the chips and guacamole." I flashed her a quick smile and she wearily waved, heading off to the royal chambers while escorted by a few other guardians. I headed over to Dimitri and leaned against his chest. "Well, Comrade, it seems you've moved up in the world. They value your opinion!"

Dimitri gave me a wry smile. "Hardly. It was just Lissa asking. And it's only day 1. You'll see how invisible I'll be tomorrow."

"You said some good stuff there, though. They must've realized the imminent threat." I looked up at him. "Do you think they'll authorize Strigoi strike teams?"

Dimitri was silent for a long time. Then, "I don't know," he said finally. "I don't know, Roza."

 **I'm hoping this story will be mainly from Dimitri's POV, but there'll be a couple Rose chapters here and there. What do you think? Reviews please!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Thanks so much for your kind reviews!**

 **Dimitri**

I had never before encountered such trouble keeping my cool guardian mask in place. What my face wanted to do was sag in boredom.

It did help, though, that Rose was nearby. Every now and then, our eyes would meet, and she'd slip me a wink. Or, if I was really lucky, she'd pull a silly face just for a moment, before resuming her neutral expression. I suppressed laughter and tried to tune in to the conversation.

It was really hard, though. Technically, it concerned guardians, because we'd be the ones sent off to fight Strigoi in their lairs if these plans came to fruition. Obviously, we were nowhere near that stage yet. It was just a bunch of old rich Moroi arguing.

"The fact is," said one Moroi woman, who I recognized vaguely as a Drozdov, "there are just too many dangers. Facing Strigoi is no small task. And while we're sending off these guardians, who's going to protect those of us who stay behind? There aren't enough guardians to go around. We can't expect to send guardians all around the globe to hunt down Strigoi while still maintaining our current defences. We just can't do it."

"In saying that, you have demonstrated in full your incapacity to understand the threat posed to us," said Christian, as aggravating as ever as he debated. That drew some gasps from the crowd, and the Moroi woman turned bright red. "One battle strategy all soldiers can agree on is to know your enemy well. The Strigoi know us – they know where we are, how to get to us, how to kill us. For a long time, we didn't possess that knowledge. Strigoi were unpredictable monsters lurking in the shadows, and we feared their attacks. Now, for the first time, thanks to Guardian Belikov" – he dropped a nod in my direction, one that I acknowledged with a nod of my own – "we have knowledge of Strigoi movements, and we know there is a Strigoi concentration not far from Court. Wouldn't it make sense to send a strike team and eliminate this threat before it can eliminate us?"

I had to admire my charge – he had guts.

"Easy for you to say, Lord Ozera," said another Moroi, sneering. "And who would lead this strike team?"

Christian started to open his mouth, but before he could say anything, another voice spoke up.

"I will."

I stiffened, and my eyes, like all the others in the room, swivelled towards Rose. She had spoken clearly and confidently.

"I will lead the strike team against the Strigoi."

I tried to meet her eyes, tried to communicate what a foolish idea I thought this was, but Rose wouldn't grant me that privilege. Instead, she listened to what the outraged Moroi in the crowd were shouting.

"Rose Hathaway?!" one cried. "Notorious rebel, fresh out of guardian school?! She is to lead this strike team?"

"I'm trained and I'm good, and the queen's personal guardian," Rose snapped. "I'm as qualified as any to lead this team." She looked like she had something else to say, something more profane in nature, but in a remarkable show of restraint managed to hold back her words.

"Your Majesty, you can't seriously be considering this!"

All eyes now turned to Lissa. She was biting her lip in concentration as she deliberated. Not for the first time, I felt a pang of sympathy for her. She was just eighteen, and already she was forced to take onto her shoulders the responsibility of running the troubled Moroi nation. And yet, I thought of Rose, throwing herself in harm's way, as usual, and selfishly begged Lissa not to agree to the plan. I knew Lissa wouldn't want Rose to be in danger, but she couldn't show favouritism in front of the Council.

Finally, Lissa sighed. "I will authorize this pre-emptive strike on the Strigoi..."

And with that, the Council erupted into chaos.

 **~~Page Break~~**

"Rose!"

I weaved through the guardians in the wake of the Council meeting adjournment. People had argued, and people had shouted, but at the end of the day, Lissa's word was law, and there was nothing any of the others could do about it.

I wasn't happy about it either, but mostly because it was Rose leading the strike team.

I finally caught up to Rose, as she stood next to Lissa. As the Moroi had left the Council room, Lissa had removed her queenly crown and now sat back, exhausted.

Rose was jumping up and down with excitement. "You won't regret this, Lissa. You won't! We'll wipe out those Strigoi!"

Before Lissa had a chance to say anything, I stepped in. "Rose! Do you know how reckless that was?"

"What?" Rose turned her dark eyes on me. "Oh, don't tell me you don't want me to be on the strike team!"

"I – "

"I don't need to be looked after, Dimitri!" Rose said sharply. "I'm strong, and I'm capable, and I'm just as ready as you are to take down those Strigoi. Don't baby me. Babying me is the worst thing you could do to me, and you should know that about me by now."

I looked at her, and I saw that she was right. She wasn't the half-trained girl I'd first tracked down in Portland, all fire and no way to channel it. This was a fierce, intelligent woman, whose forged paths through reason and her passion about what she cared about to achieve her goals. Rose had grown under my tutelage. She fully deserved this.

"I'm sorry," I said softly. "It's just – "

I struggled to express how I felt, but Rose's eyes softened, and I knew I didn't need to. "I know you love me, Comrade," she sighed. "Come here." She leaned forward and kissed me.

"Hey, guys!" Lissa groaned. "Not in front of the queen!"

We broke apart. "Sorry, Your Majesty," I said, grinning, and Lissa laughed.

"That really exhausted me. Sometimes, being queen is worse than wielding spirit."

"You haven't had to since you took the throne," Rose reminded her.

Lissa snorted, sounding most un-queen-like. "Haven't had to? More like haven't had the time." She sounded wistful. This wasn't Queen Vasilisa before us – this was just Lissa.

Until, of course, she decided she had to go to the restroom. She drew herself up. "I have to use the little queens' room," she announced. I watched as she donned her queenly persona, and then made her way out of the room. "Dimitri," she said, looking back, "you wouldn't mind scouting around and looking for potential recruits to the strike team, would you?"

"Of course not, Lissa."

I stepped away, my mind whirring, and went to find the other guardians.

 **As usual, reviews please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Dimitri**

Finding recruits for Rose's strike team proved easier than I'd expected – many guardians were eager to land a blow on the Strigoi and prove once and for all that the Moroi and dhampirs weren't afraid to fight back.

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when Eddie Castile was one of the first to sign up. He was loyal, dedicated and keen to prove himself. Still, though, I cautioned him – he hadn't had the best history with Strigoi.

"Are you sure about this, Eddie? With what happened in Spokane, and then after you were taken by Strigoi after that attack – "

Eddie nodded determinedly. "I have to prove myself and show that I'm worthy of being a guardian. I'm going to go to Pittsburgh."

I had to admire Eddie's bravery, but my heart panged at the thought of one going into battle so young.

Some of the Moroi, Christian included, had been all too willing to charge into battle alongside us, but on that front the Council was united: no Moroi were to join the guardians, at least not this time.

At last, the day came, and guardians bundled into vans to head to Pittsburgh, about an hour's drive from Court. I was in the van at the head of the group, alongside Rose, who was busy planning battle strategies. I'd barely gotten any proper time alone with her these past few days, she'd been so busy studying maps of the area.

"Now, if we attack from this angle, there's the possibility of an escape route here and here," she muttered to herself, pointing to dots on the map of suburban Pittsburgh we'd managed to obtain. "How should we do this…?"

I didn't want to interrupt her, but I wanted to tell her so much that I loved her. I knew how much this meant to her: being given the responsibility to undertake such a historic mission was an amazing opportunity, and a great deal of pressure was on her shoulders. So, I sat in silence and merely squeezed her hand as she made further contingency plans. She barely noticed.

At last, we arrived in Pittsburgh. It was afternoon, which meant we'd be able to attack in sunlight, worsening the Strigoi's chances. But worse than expected traffic conditions meant that we'd arrived in Pittsburgh one hour later than anticipated, which meant we'd lost one hour of daylight – in fall, that was already a large risk to take.

Rose and I soon identified the house where the Strigoi were living. It somehow managed to be large but innocuous, with three storeys and an old-fashioned building structure that wouldn't have looked out of place in the 1910s. It seemed all Strigoi had a penchant for old architecture.

"You're sure this is it?" Rose asked me as we approached the building. Scouts had already explored the parameters and confirmed that the grounds were secure.

I nodded. "Positive."

Our footsteps slowed as we approached the house. We didn't plan on alerting the Strigoi to our presence. Slowly, the guardians approached, with Rose and me at the head.

At Rose's signal, a pair of guardians kicked down the front door, and we all surged into the house.

To our credit, the Strigoi were indeed caught off guard. The front door opened straight into the living room, where three or four Strigoi were sitting. Whatever it was they had been doing, I never found out. They snarled in surprise and hurled themselves into the battle – and were met with the silver stakes of our guardians.

Strigoi began to appear from adjoining rooms. I glimpsed a nearby staircase, and heard the thumping of feet upstairs. But I couldn't concentrate on that. I threw myself at a red-haired Strigoi woman. She was short in stature, suggesting that she'd been human before being turned. She spat at me, her red eyes gleaming with hatred, and sprang at me. Her mistake. I ducked to one side, and my stake flashed out, catching her chest. She howled with pain as she went down, and with no hesitation I knelt down and finished her off.

I was merciless. These monsters were twisted and evil, and they had no place in this world. My silver stake struck again and again, and I lost myself in the melee. Strigoi after Strigoi fell at my hands. I cut through them like they were butter.

As another Strigoi dropped, though, I looked around. The battle should have been over by now. Why, then, were there even more Strigoi coming down the stairs?

Rose and I had given strict instructions to the guardians on our strike team to leave the house immediately if they were injured, to retreat to the safety of the sunlight. As I glanced over to the doorway, I saw guardians stumbling out, pressing hands to bleeding wounds on their side. The Strigoi couldn't follow them into the sun, but as I looked, I saw that the daylight was fading. We would lose that advantage soon.

Eddie was fighting near me. He'd sustained cuts all over his face, and his shirt was ripped – blood seeped through. The Strigoi he was fighting showed no signs of tiring, though. I leapt forward and plunged my stake into the Strigoi's back, providing enough of a distraction for Eddie to kill the monster.

As the body dropped to the ground, I yelled to Eddie. "Get out of here! Go!"

Eddie shook his head obstinately. "They need me here!"

"You're going to get yourself killed!" I yelled back. "Get out!"

Eddie still wore that stubborn expression, and I thought for a moment he was going to refuse. Then, he pushed past a fighting guardian and Strigoi and disappeared into the daylight outside.

Rose was fighting across the room. As she felled her Strigoi, her eyes met mine. I knew she could tell what I was thinking – it must've been in my expression. She nodded slightly, then raised her voice. "Guardians, retreat!"

At her voice, the guardians still in the house began to fight their way towards the door. The Strigoi surged in front of them ravenously. Rose's order had been all but an admission of defeat, and with energy renewed, they came to follow us.

I planted myself near the door and engaged in combat with the Strigoi blocking the way. Rose stationed herself on the other side. Together, we provided a path for escaping guardians to get out.

As the last one slipped through, I realized that Rose and I were the last ones left. "Rose, let's go!" I roared. With a last staking, I ducked out through the door.

Rose made to follow, but a hand flashed out and grabbed her hair. She shrieked in pain, and was tugged backwards into the shadows of the house. Her stake fell out of her hands and rolled away.

"No!" I cried, and started forward. I was instantly met by a Strigoi, though, and began to grapple desperately.

Rose was struggling with the Strigoi man who held her. "Let me go!" she shouted.

The Strigoi was blond, with the chalk-white skin and red-ringed eyes. His height told me he had probably once been Moroi. "You're Rose Hathaway, aren't you? Yes, I'd know that face anywhere…don't you remember me from the St. Vladimir's attack?"

Rose responded by spitting in his face.

"Rude," the Strigoi chuckled.

"If you're going to kill me, shut up and do it!" she snarled.

"I have no intentions of killing you, or even awakening you," he replied, "or at least, not yet. There's someone very powerful who's ordered us to capture you alive and un-awakened…never thought you'd be stupid enough to deliver yourself right into our hands, though…"

"Rose!" I cried again, but now Strigoi were bursting forward, and blocking me from Rose – she and the Strigoi holding her were lost from view.

"Dimitri, get back!" Hands tugged me backwards, and one of the Strigoi was pulled forward into the dying sunlight. He screamed in pain, but was silenced quickly by a silver stake.

"Let go of me!" I struggled madly, trying to get to Rose. "She's – been – captured – "

"The daylight is fading! We have to get out of here before the Strigoi can follow!"

"No! Rose…"

A face appeared suddenly before me: Alberta, from St. Vladimir's. "I'm so sorry about this, Dimitri," she said, looking truly sorry. Then her fist connected with my face and I knew no more.


	5. Chapter 5

**Dimitri**

A Moroi nurse was the first thing I saw when I opened my eyes again.

"You're feeling all right?" she asked. "What's your name?"

"Mm?" I asked groggily.

"Your name. I want to hear you say it."

"Dimitri Belikov."

As she took down my response, my memories suddenly came rushing back to me.

"Rose!" I sat bolt upright, then tried to push back the covers. "Rose!"

"Sit back, Guardian Belikov," the nurse ordered. "You're in no condition to go anywhere anytime soon."

"But Rose – "

"You have to rest," she commanded. "It's the only way you're going to recover from your wounds." She gestured to me, and it was then I realized that bandages were wrapped around various parts of my body. I must've sustained more injuries than I thought in the battle against the Strigoi.

"I need to get to Rose!"

"I can guarantee that you are not leaving this hospital wing," the nurse continued as if I hadn't spoken. "One, because there are guardians posted outside. And two…" She hesitated.

"What?" I demanded.

"Two, because Court is under lockdown."

 **~~Page Break~~**

I learned later that my nurse's name was Svetlana. That wasn't the only thing I learned.

I wasn't, for instance, the only guardian in the hospital wing. In fact, the hospital wing was pretty full with injured guardians.

I learned also that after Alberta had punched me unconscious, I'd been carried into one of the guardians' vans, which had all peeled away, carrying wounded guardians, back to Court as fast as possible. There had been no pursuit by the Strigoi.

The Court was in an uproar. Conservatives were pointing to the large number of injured guardians as precisely why there could be no more strikes against the Strigoi. Lissa was facing more cries than ever to abdicate and hand over the throne to someone who could actually govern.

With so many recovering guardians, the Court was especially vulnerable. More guardians had been called in to help protect the stronghold of the Moroi nation.

None of that mattered to me. Because the one person who'd been taken was the one person I loved most in the world.

Rose was missing.

We'd abandoned her to her fate. _I'd_ abandoned her. I hadn't been there when she'd needed me. I could never forgive myself.

I couldn't touch my food or drink. I couldn't interact with anyone. I couldn't do anything but stare at my blanket and hate myself. This was all my fault. I had failed her, in every sense of the word, failed her in just the way I promised her I never would. This was wholly and completely my doing.

This wasn't the Dimitri I'd grown up to be, the one I'd always strived to be. This was a broken man, one who'd lost his centre of gravity. Was this how Rose had felt, when I'd been turned Strigoi? This was agony, a constant agony beyond comprehension. I'd lost her.

And yet, I hadn't yet.

Just when I was at my lowest, a small voice spoke to me in my head.

 _Don't you remember what that Strigoi said? He's not going to turn her or kill her…yet_.

Yet.

That one word was the reason why I went straight to Lissa's private chambers the moment I was released from the hospital ward.

As the guardian of Christian Ozera, boyfriend of the queen, I was permitted access to the queen's chambers, which were very well guarded, for obvious reasons. When I reached her bedroom, however, I found the bedroom door wide open.

Lissa was in her bedroom. It was decked out in exactly the way you would expect the queen of an ancient civilization to live – Old World grandeur, an impressively high ceiling, complete with a large king size poster bed with red, royal drapes. Lissa was sprawled on that bed. And she was crying.

Christian was with her, hugging her close to him. Sorrow was etched on his face, and he kept murmuring, "I'm so sorry, Lissa."

I knocked on the open door, and Lissa sat up, sniffling. She saw me, and attempted a watery smile. It almost worked. "Dimitri. Come in."

I did so, carefully. Lissa was careful around me, and trying not to burst into tears again. Her eyes were red with crying, her face marked with tear stains.

"Lissa," I said softly. Her lip wobbled, and she flung her arms around me and began to sob again. I closed my eyes, and allowed myself to do what I wouldn't in the hospital wing – I cried.

I don't know how long we sat there, Christian watching us, just crying and sharing our grief. Then Lissa sat back. "I'm sorry," she blubbered, trying to regain some semblance of composure. "I don't want you to think I've completely lost control. It's just…" And here she almost lost it again. "I don't know how I'm supposed to go on without her. And to imagine her as one of those – those _things_ …" She almost broke down again. "She was my best friend. She was always, _always_ there for me. She saved my life time and time again – and I couldn't save hers." She paused briefly to rub her eyes, then barreled on. "And I promised her I'd always be there for her. I promised we'd never be separated again…and then I sent her on this suicide mission…"

"Lissa," I said softly, "I want to tell you something."

She blinked back tears. "This is all my fault! I will never, _never_ forgive myself…"

"Lissa!"

Lissa sat back, and looked at me. Her green eyes were surprisingly focused for someone who'd just been crying her heart out. "Yes?"

I told her what I'd heard the Strigoi say, that he wouldn't kill or awaken Rose just yet. Hope flared briefly in Lissa's eyes, only to go dull again. "Yes, but that just means she'll be killed or turned eventually."

"Yes," I conceded. "But, not if there's something I can do about it."

Lissa looked up at me.

"I want to go looking for Rose and save her before she's killed, or meets a fate worse than death," I told Lissa. "And I'm seeking your consent, Your Majesty."


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey everyone!**

 **Dimitri**

Lissa's face showed nothing but shock.

"I want to find her," I continued. "I know I can. She found me, when I was in Siberia. I just know that if I set out to find her, I'll be able to track her down. And if I can't find her in time – " I shuddered at the thought. "Well, I know that she'd rather die than become Strigoi. This is something I have to do."

"What about me?"

We both turned to face Christian. He was looking at me very seriously. I felt a pang of guilt. Christian was a good employer. He wasn't one of those snobby Moroi who treated their guardians like an invisible ghost – rather, he interacted with me as a friend, and I'd had a wonderful time being his guardian. It would be hard leaving him, but I knew I had to.

"I'm sorry," I told him truthfully. "But this is something I feel I have to do."

Christian shook his head impatiently. "That's not what I meant. I want to go with you."

It was my turn to be taken by shock.

"Christian!" Lissa gasped. "You can't go! What will everyone say?"

"Screw everyone," Christian growled. "Rose is my friend. She's saved me before, and I intend on repaying the favour." He turned to me. "You know I can fight."

I nodded reluctantly. That was what we had been doing in Europe just before I'd come back to Court to surprise Rose – Christian had been training in fighting manoeuvres with some Moroi fighting groups. The concept of Moroi fighters was still taboo in Moroi society.

"I don't care what everyone says," Christian continued. "It's not like I have much of a reputation to lose, anyway. Hell, my parents turned Strigoi."

Lissa and I winced.

"If you're going to find Rose, I want to go with you," Christian told me.

I hesitated and considered. Christian was already pretty formidable in fighting ability. The fact that he was a fire-using Moroi and could wield fire magic as a weapon was also a great advantage, as fire was one of the few ways to kill a Strigoi.

I slowly nodded. "I'd like that," I said carefully.

Lissa stood. "If you two are going, I'm going with you."

"No," Christian and I said in unison.

Hurt flashed in Lissa's eyes. "You don't think I'm tough? You don't think I can stand Strigoi?"

"It's not that," Christian said. "It's that you're the queen. If you up and leave – things are going to get pretty ugly."

"Christian's right," I added. "You're the leader of the Moroi. If you leave, the Moroi are going to fall into chaos, and possibly civil war as factions battle to claim the throne. In the ensuing chaos, it might actually be harder for us to find Rose."

I knew I'd spoken correctly. Lissa sat back down, hanging her head. Her platinum blond hair fell about her neck.

"Besides, it may be advantageous to us if you stay in Court," I pointed out. "As queen, you have access to resources that none of us would even come close to touching otherwise. You can help us right here from Court. We'll be in almost daily contact and let you know where it is we're going and you can help us right from your throne." I lowered my voice. "Besides, Rose wouldn't have wanted you to leave your throne. Rose would've wanted you to stay."

Lissa still looked miserable. "I just want to help her. I just feel so useless. Like that time when Rose fled Court and became a fugitive, and all I did was campaign to be queen."

"You helped her then, and you'll help her now," soothed Christian. "Don't undermine what you've done for Rose. You brought her back from the dead. You can help her now."

Lissa was quiet for a moment, then nodded. "All right," she said reluctantly. "But I don't like it. And I want regular updates from you two."

Christian and I nodded in agreement.

"Is that all?" Christian asked. "I'm ready to get started right now."

"Actually, there's one more person who I thought would be very interested in what we're doing," I told them. "And she's right here at Court."

 **~~Page Break~~**

Janine Hathaway looked surprised to be summoned to the Moroi queen's bedroom.

"Your Majesty," she said, bowing to Lissa. "Lord Ozera." She saw me and gave me an acknowledging nod. "Guardian Belikov."

I'd heard from my bed in the hospital wing that Janine was one of the guardians who'd been summoned to Court as part of the post-attack reinforcements. Under the neutral, formal guardian expression she wore now, I saw grief and misery in her eyes. That misery changed to shock, disbelief and then shock again when I told her what I'd heard Rose's Strigoi captor say and then what Christian and I intended to do.

"I must warn you, Guardian Belikov and Lord Ozera," she exclaimed, "this is highly unusual. I'll even go so far as to suggest it's not permissible under guardian protocol. After such a disastrous Strigoi hunt, it would cause a terrible scandal to undertake another such mission now – especially when they learn of your involvement, Your Majesty. A scandal that may cost you your throne."

"We know," Christian responded. "We understand."

"But we care enough about Rose that we're willing to do so anyway," Lissa said.

"Guardian Hathaway," I said, "we're fully willing to risk our lives and our reputations to save your daughter, if she can still be saved. We were hoping that you'd join us on our mission."

Janine looked startled. She turned away, apparently forgetting that it was almost unforgivably rude in Moroi circles to turn your back on the queen.

"I risk losing my reputation and my position as guardian," she murmured. "Assuming I return from this alive, I'll be lucky to ever be employed again." She paused. "But Rose is my daughter."

I heard in her voice a hint of regret, and I remembered that this was Janine Hathaway. She and Rose hadn't had the easiest of relationships, and for years there had been little love between them. But they had started out on the road to rebuilding a mother-daughter relationship, and listening to Janine now, I found it hard to believe that Rose had ever doubted her mother's love.

She turned around again, and a fierce determination burned in her dark eyes, a determination born from a mother's love. I saw that she loved Rose every bit as much as everyone here did. "When do we start?" she asked.

 **Rose's POV coming soon :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Rose**

I stirred groggily. I groaned, holding a hand to my head. Then, all my memories came back and I remembered what had happened.

I sat up, instantly on the alert, and assessed my surroundings in true guardian style. I sat in small, windowless room, surrounded by four grey walls. There was little furniture, other than two wooden chairs facing each other. The only illumination came from a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. I had been lying on a hard wooden floor. The temperature was freezing, and I shivered.

Pressing a hand to my head, I felt a lump and winced. That was probably going to be a bruise.

Now that I'd ascertained I was alone, my next thought was of a distinctly more troubling nature: _Why hadn't they turned me Strigoi?_

I wasn't complaining, obviously, but something struck me as suspicious. Strigoi were known for killing and turning, but it was obvious I hadn't even been drunk from. What was going on?

It was then that the door to my prison cell suddenly trembled. I looked at it, and saw that it was locked and bolted from the outside, with what appeared to be a combination of modern technology (a keypad) and a traditional keyhole. I crouched in a defensive stance, so that when the door swung open, I was fully prepared to throw myself at whoever entered.

When the door did swing open, though, I found myself faced by two Strigoi. I recognized the one on the right – he was the one who'd captured me. The other was a woman, slender enough to be a former Moroi.

They stalked into the room, sneers on their faces, flanking me so that I couldn't get to the door. A human girl followed them, which should've surprised me, but didn't. I'd known already that some humans worked for Strigoi masters.

"She's hardier than you said she'd be, Eugene," snarled the Strigoi woman. "You said she'd probably still be passed out."

Eugene?! I snorted. "Your name's Eugene? Let me guess, you were the high school nerd who everyone hated. All that's missing is the glasses."

Eugene lunged forward. "I'd shut my mouth if I were you," he growled. "You have no idea on what incredibly thin ice you're walking."

I glared back, refusing to show fear. In reality, my heart was pounding in my chest. I was weaponless, defenceless, and probably far from any kind of help. A squad of guardians wasn't here to help me now.

 _Calm down_ , said a voice that sounded remarkably like Dimitri's in my head. _You've done this before. Think this through. What's your next move?_

I was shocked to find I didn't have one.

The Strigoi seemed to notice that I'd realized I was out of options, and their sneers grew more pronounced. The human girl in the doorway disappeared for a moment, then returned, setting down a tray of bread and water. My eyes widened.

"Eat," snarled Eugene. His red-ringed eyes stared into mine.

I raised my chin. "Why would I?"

The Strigoi woman gave a harsh, barking laugh. "She's smart. Smart enough to be irritating."

I thought desperately back to when I'd been captured by Dimitri as a Strigoi in Russia. He'd fed on me back then, leaving me in an endorphin-lulled state that left me vulnerable and almost unable to move. Here, though, I hadn't been fed on, leaving me in full possession of all my senses. I had to ponder my next move carefully. At the same time, though, I figured I had nothing to lose, and may as well try being direct.

"Where am I?" I blurted out.

"Not in Pittsburgh," the woman responded, her lips curling up in a cruel sneer. "Exactly how stupid do you think we are?"

"Very," I told them. "Or you wouldn't have captured me and held me. You know who I am. The Moroi queen will stop at nothing to find me and kill you." I hoped he wouldn't be able to hear me bluffing.

Eugene shot me a withering look. "Be careful, dhampir. We're under orders from a powerful authority not to harm you just yet, but if you get on my nerves one more time I might just decide to disobey him."

I was determined not to show the terror I was feeling, but kept silent and turned away from them. A moment later, the Strigoi seemed to grow bored of me and moved away towards the door.

"Eat," the woman commanded one last time over her shoulder, and then the door slammed shut.

In spite of myself, I moved towards the tray of food the human girl had left for me, near the door. I was ravenous, and I just had to eat if I was to stand any chance of escape – starving myself certainly wouldn't help. As I began to wolf down my food, however, I heard snippets of conversation coming from beyond the door, as it was being locked from the outside.

"What if she's right?" asked a softer voice, one I hadn't heard before. I put two and two together and realized that it was the human girl who'd been in here earlier. "Will the Moroi queen come looking for her?"

A harsh laugh – Eugene's. "Natalia, you fool. No matter how close this dhampir is to the Moroi queen, she'll never be valuable enough for them to send rescue missions after her." The sound of the lock clanging stopped, and footsteps began to sound, gradually receding. I scrambled to the door, hoping to catch any more snippets of conversation.

"And even if the Moroi did send people looking for her," Eugene's voice continued, growing fainter, "they'll never find her before we take her to the Grand Master."

That was the last I heard, because their voices became unintelligible with distance. I sat back against the wall and thought.

Who was this Grand Master, and why did he want me alive? What was he going to do to me? I still didn't know where I was, and there was no way of reaching out for help.

Despair came crashing over me. What if the Strigoi were right? What if nobody came after me? I blinked back tears as I thought about Lissa, Dimitri, even my mother – and how I'd never see any of them again. I could only wonder what the Strigoi had in store for me.

As I lay down, I noticed tears coursing their way down my cheeks. I closed my eyes again, and drifted off to a miserable sleep.

Only to open my eyes again and find myself in a spirit dream.


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys!**

 **Dimitri**

It was decided that we should return to Pittsburgh, because that was our best lead.

Rescue missions almost never happened in the world of Moroi and dhampirs – those who were taken by Strigoi were deemed dead. As such, Lissa, already dealing with the fallout from the disastrous strike against the Strigoi, could hardly sanction such a mission. It had to be done in a way I was pretty used to by now – stealth and deceit.

We'd snuck out of the Royal Court on foot, as it would attract less attention than if we'd driven out. Then, we'd gotten to a nearby town and rented a car, and we drove now on the highway towards Pittsburgh.

Janine in particular was quiet. I couldn't help but glance over her. She was risking more than Christian and I were – I was his guardian, and I knew I'd have a job no matter what happened. Janine, on the other hand, was the guardian of a Szelsky lord. There was no way this would end well career-wise for her – she'd lose her reputation and most likely her job. I knew better than most what it was like to face an uncertain future, and couldn't help but feel sympathetic for her.

"Penny for your thoughts?" I offered.

Janine glanced over, and for a moment I thought she was going to ignore my clumsy attempt at conversation. Then, she sighed. "I'm just thinking about Rose, and how I'm going to rip whoever took her in two."

I blinked. I hadn't expected something as ferocious as that. "Wow. Okay."

"I mean it," Janine continued. "Nobody takes my daughter. _Nobody_."

"Okay," said Christian, "we're all out for vengeance. Shall we discuss battle tactics?"

Janine dipped her head. "Lord Ozera – "

"Why don't you call me Christian," the aforementioned lord interrupted. "We're going to be spending a lot of time together and it's probably best if we're on first name terms."

Janine appeared startled – it probably wasn't very often that royals invited her to use their first names. "Well, Christian, I thought it would be safer for you to stay behind Guardian – I mean, Dimitri and myself. We'll take on the Strigoi."

Christian's face darkened. I knew that expression all too well. "I don't have to be babied."

"I know, I know," Janine said hastily. "It's just that you don't have a lot of combat experience with the Strigoi. If you were to light them up while Dimitri and I attacked – that'd make for quite a lethal combination."

There was merit to her words, and Christian seemed to recognize that. "Okay," he conceded, "you have a point."

"We don't know what we're going to find, though," I reminded both of them. "We don't know if there are Strigoi still hiding out at that house or if they've left. The point is: be ready for anything."

 **~~Page Break~~**

We arrived at the house in Pittsburgh with hours of daylight to spare. We parked in front of it and crept up to it cautiously. There were no sounds from within, but I knew that didn't mean anything – Strigoi could be very quiet when they wanted to be.

Janine and I removed our stakes from our belts and dropped into protective stances in classic guardian style. Christian spread his hands, ready to make fireballs if needed.

"Remember," I reminded them, "be ready for anything."

I'd expected to have to kick the door open, but to my surprise, when we pushed at the door it swung open easily. We crept in cautiously, stakes and magic at the ready, ears pricked for any suggestion of movement or danger.

There was none. All was still and silent in the house. With the blinders down and the curtains drawn to prevent any sunlight from penetrating the inside, it bore an eerie resemblance to something out of a horror movie. I could very easily imagine a poltergeist appearing out of nowhere and scaring the living daylights out of me.

"Split up?" Christian suggested.

"No," Janine said. "We don't know what's in the house. There could still be Strigoi, and if there are, we need to stand together and take them down."

Christian nodded. We advanced slowly, agonizingly slowly, to the next room.

At first glance, it appeared to just be a surprisingly ordinary living room, with a TV and a couple couches. It was a terrible reminder to me that Strigoi, for the most part, lived ordinary lives as most Moroi, dhampirs and humans did – except, of course, for the fact that they were twisted and evil and fed on their victims till they died.

I turned to leave, but suddenly, Janine let out a small gasp and pointed with her free hand. Concealed behind one of the couches was a foot.

Motioning for the others to follow, I went to investigate – and stopped dead at what I saw.

A human body, drained of blood. It had belonged to a middle-aged man, who now lay spread-eagled behind the couch where he'd been so cleverly concealed. The puncture marks on his neck weren't healing now that he was dead, and a small trail of blood trickled its way out of the wound. From the enraptured expression he had worn in death, however, the Strigoi endorphins had done their job and made his death painless.

"God," Janine whispered. She and Christian wore identical expressions of disgust. For me, this body was more than just a reminder of the monsters we faced – it was a reminder of what I once had been. Nausea welled up inside me at the thought that I had once been a creature who fed on innocents until they were reduced to drained corpses like this. Once again, that self-loathing that I had worked so hard to overcome threatened to engulf me once more.

My expression must've said it all, because Christian caught sight of my face and reached out, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You're not like that anymore," he said softly. "You're you again."

I saw the hand on my shoulder and thought about how I'd kidnapped him and Lissa, right before Lissa had restored me. My Strigoi memories were terrible, seen through a haze of evil and malice. I closed my eyes, and with a considerable amount of effort managed to forgive myself again – the way Rose had helped me to.

"Let's search the other rooms," I said quietly.

The other rooms were empty – the Strigoi had left this house. They had left it tidy. We scoured each room for a clue, a hint as to where Rose had been, but there was none. They had left nothing behind.

I was about to order that we leave, already calculating our next move to find Rose, but there was suddenly a low cry from a nearby room. Sprinting to the source of the sound, I found Janine and Christian – huddled over another body. A woman, this time, who looked to be in her twenties. Latina, from the look of her.

I started forward, to tell them that we had to go, when I saw the shallow rise and fall of her chest, and the way her eyelids were fluttering.

Janine was speaking to her. "What's your name?" she asked. Her voice was so unlike the cool, guardian tone she used around Moroi – this was a compassionate, worried woman, speaking in a soft, concerned, almost motherly tone. I fought the urge to shake my head – Hathaway women always managed to surprise me.

The eyelids fluttered again, and the lips moved. I strained to hear what she was saying, even with my dhampir hearing: "Maria."

"Maria," Janine repeated. "Hold on, Maria. We're going to get you to a hospital, and you're going to be okay."

Maria gave a soft laugh. "There's nothing that can be done for me now, vampire or human." Her words broke off into coughing, and I knew she was right – she'd lost too much blood.

Maria coughed again. "Such a fool – I should never have served them." She gasped for breath. "But immortality…I should never have trusted them…"

"You can help us now," Janine said, and now her soft tone had taken on an undertone of urgency. "Where did the Strigoi go?"

Maria struggled to form words with what air remained in her lungs. "They said – they were going to awaken me…turn me…"

My stomach turned. This wasn't uncommon among Strigoi – they promised immortality to humans, who in return gave them their servitude. In reality, not many humans got their wish – most were drained eventually, as Maria had been.

With her last breath, Maria choked out, "Atlanta. They went to – Atlanta. To see – the Grand Master…"

Her chest stilled, and her eyes turned glassy. They saw no more.

Janine sat back, her eyes shimmering with tears. I glanced over at Christian, who wore an expression of shock and horror. Then I bowed my head, and allowed myself a moment to grieve for Maria, who had been so terribly misguided, and had only just realized her mistake.

 **Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas, and if you don't celebrate Christmas, that you're enjoying this holiday season :) Sorry for the late update. More to come in 2016!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Rose**

I don't know who I expected in my spirit dream. My ex, Adrian? I hadn't heard from him in months, and we hadn't exactly parted on good terms. He probably didn't even know what'd happened to me.

There weren't a lot of spirit users around, which made me feel all the more stupid when the spirit user involved in this dream turned out to be the most obvious choice.

"Lissa!"

I sprinted to hug her and hold her in my arms. She was crying, and her tears coursed down my cheeks as we hugged. For a few moments, there were no words, because we didn't need any. We were content to hug and hold each other.

Finally, though, we had to break apart. For the first time, I looked around to see where we'd materialized in the dream, and almost laughed. We stood in her old bedroom at St. Vladimir's Academy.

"Good choice, Liss," I said, grinning. "When'd you learn to walk dreams?! You couldn't when I last heard from you."

"Adrian," she said sheepishly. "He and I have been keeping in contact – he's been walking in my dreams, trying to teach me how – " Suddenly, she seemed to remember what was going on. "Rose! Where are you?!" She seemed almost ready to cry again. "I've been trying to contact you in your dreams – you don't know how terrible it was each time the connection failed. I didn't know if it was me and my own inability, or because you'd been…" Her voice trailed off, and I didn't need her to finish.

Dead. Or turned Strigoi. Either way, I wouldn't be sleeping, and she'd have no way of knowing what had happened to me.

"I'm fine," I told her. "I haven't even been drunk from. Listen…" And I told her what Eugene and the Strigoi woman had said to me, about having orders to keep me alive, and then what I'd heard them telling Natalia through the door about the Grand Master.

Lissa's eyes were wide. "The Grand Master? Who could that be?!"

"I don't know," I admitted.

"You know what this means, Rose? All those rumours about the Strigoi mobilizing…them banding together like they had a purpose…and now, news of this Grand Master…"

Again, I knew what she meant. If there truly was a Strigoi Grand Master, powerful enough to command huge numbers of Strigoi and begin to gather them like this, then the entire Moroi world was in terrible danger.

My mind whirled. Strigoi were evil creatures. They possessed no loyalty to anything, not even each other. A Strigoi Grand Master? The implications were awful.

"We have no evidence," I reminded her. "Just what I heard in passing."

Lissa nodded, but she still looked troubled. "I'll tell Dimitri."

"Dimitri?" My heart leaped. "What about Dimitri?"

"Oh, Rose…"

Lissa told me a crazy story about how Dimitri, Christian, and my mother had set out looking for me. Last she'd heard from them, they were on their way to Pittsburgh. Hearing that, my heart swelled with love for all of them. I was touched beyond words. My friends, coming to save me from the hands of Strigoi? I took a couple steps and sat back on Lissa's bed.

"I can't believe they'd do that for me."

Lissa's eyes were brimming with tears. "Of course they would! Hell, I would! I wanted to go with them, Rose…I really wanted to…but they wouldn't let me…"

"No, no, they were right," I said. I was already starting to go crazy with worry for Dimitri, Christian and my mom. I couldn't worry about Lissa as well. "I wouldn't have let you either. You're safe where you are."

Lissa's tears began to spill over onto her cheeks again. "Rose, it's my fault. I shouldn't have sent you on that suicide mission. I should've kept you back – it's my fault, all my fault…"

"No!" I was at her side in an instant, and hugging her. "You are not to blame yourself for this, Lissa. I was the one who persuaded you. I wanted to go on that mission. This is all on me, not you, and now I'm stuck in a basement somewhere."

Lissa blinked at me. "And now, everyone wants me off the throne. I was held responsible for – "

The room at St. Vladimir's went blurry, then back into focus. Lissa blinked again. "What's happening?"

A pang of fear shot through my heart as the room began to dissolve for real. "I'm being woken up."

Lissa's face lit up with alarm. "Be careful, Rose! Don't stay anything stupid – just hang on until Dimitri, Christian and your mom can find you!"

Her voice was growing more faint, and she was fading too.

"Lissa! I love you!" I called desperately.

"I love you too!"

Her reply was barely audible, and then she was gone. I was blinking awake on the floor of my prison – and a pair of red-ringed eyes were staring into mine.

"Good morning, Guardian Hathaway," the Strigoi snarled. "Sleep well? I hope so, because the Grand Master is going to see you now."


	10. Chapter 10

**Dimitri**

We alerted the local Alchemists of the human bodies lying in the Strigoi house. Then, from a safe distance, we crouched and hid and watched the house, to make sure the Alchemists really did come. We weren't fugitives, but for the sake of Janine's career and all our reputations, it was probably best that the Alchemists (and therefore the Moroi) didn't know where we were, as Operation Save Rose had been pretty hush-hush so far.

We watched as an SUV pulled up outside the house and several humans emerged, cautiously approaching. I caught the flash of a golden tattoo and turned.

"All right, let's go."

The drive to Pittsburgh International Airport was quite quiet. We'd known what we'd signed up for, but seeing how the Strigoi treated their servants and hearing Maria's last words had been pretty sobering. We sat in silence, all of us lost in our own thoughts.

Janine rode shotgun beside me, and I glanced over more than once. Her expression was surprisingly upset. She wasn't wearing her usual guardian mask, and as a guardian myself, I knew how vulnerable that meant she was, and how much she'd let her guard down. I considered making conversation, but seeing how troubled she looked, I decided not to.

It was probably just as well, because at that moment, my phone began to ring. Janine turned towards it, her cool guardian expression sliding into place once more, and answered, putting it on speakerphone.

"Your Majesty," she said. "We're here."

"Good," said Lissa's voice, "because I've got news from Rose."

All of us sat forward. "What's the news?" Christian asked.

"Well, she obviously doesn't know where she is, except she's in a basement. But she's alive, and she's well – for now."

"For now?" I asked, stepping just a little bit faster on the gas pedal. "What does that mean?"

"It means the Strigoi have plans for her." She explained about what Rose had said about a Grand Master.

"Isn't that what Maria said?" Christian exclaimed.

"What? Maria who?"

Janine gave a brief summary of what had happened in Pittsburgh and why we were heading to Atlanta now.

"I'm glad you've got a plan," said Lissa, worried. "Think about what a Strigoi Grand Master means, though."

"If a powerful Strigoi takes on a leadership role and is able to command other Strigoi like that…" Janine began.

"Then it could be catastrophic for the Moroi," I finished. "We could be talking about Strigoi armies."

"That's why I'm modifying your mission parameters," Lissa said urgently. "I want you to find Rose, and _find out who this Grand Master is_. Then we can concentrate on taking him/her down."

"Yes, Your Majesty," Janine said at once.

"I'm going to go and alert the Council." Lissa sighed. "It won't be pretty when they hear just how I know about this."

She hung up, and silence settled on the car once again, in light of the new threat we faced. If a Strigoi Grand Master truly existed, then that meant the Strigoi had evolved and were organizing, mobilizing, just the way we'd feared they were. One reason why the Moroi had managed to stay one step ahead of the Strigoi was because the Moroi were an organized, structured society, while the Strigoi were rogues, thieves, bandits preying on the edges of the vampire world. If the Strigoi organized and became our equal, it could change everything about our world, and in a very, very bad way. We'd be facing a threat like never before.

We arrived at the airport, and Janine was the first to hop out.

"We'd better get going," she said, businesslike and straightforward. "If we're to save Rose and find that Strigoi Grand Master, we're going to need every second we've got."

We checked in and bought tickets on the first flight available to Atlanta. It was a Southwest Airlines flight departing in forty-five minutes, and we had to move as fast as humanly (or in our case, superhumanly) possible to get to the gate on time.

As the plane took off, Christian decided to get some shuteye and dozed off. Janine flipped briefly through the in-flight magazine, before setting it back in its place and staring straight ahead. I decided now was as good a time as any to talk to her.

"Hey," I said quietly, careful not to disturb Christian. "Penny for your thoughts."

She turned towards me, and I again saw that vulnerability that I'd seen in the car on the way to the airport in Pittsburgh. She gave me a wry smile. "Why do you want to know?"

"Because what we saw in Pittsburgh was pretty upsetting, and I just thought you might want to talk about it."

Janine snorted softly. "I'm a guardian, Dimitri. I've seen worse."

"I know you have. But that doesn't make it any easier to see innocents killed."

A lot of Moroi probably would've disputed Maria's innocence, seeing as she'd willingly served Strigoi, but I didn't really want to delve into that, and neither did Janine.

She sighed. "It's just a waste. Seeing a human – an idiotic human – exploited and left for dead like that, well, it leaves a sour taste in the mouth." She paused. "And I can't help but think about Rose, and what those monsters might be doing to her. How they might be feeding off her…" She bit her lip, then laughed bitterly. "And we don't even have that mother-daughter bond that most mothers and daughters do. I was hoping – I was hoping to fix that. And now I'm faced with losing her."

I was amazed by the mother's love that was radiating off her. Janine Hathaway was not known for her maternal instinct, least of all by her own daughter, and yet here she was, on the verge of tears out of worry for Rose.

I laid a hand on her shoulder. "We're going to find Rose," I reassured her. "And when we do, you're going to get to know her. I'll make sure of it."

She gave me a faltering smile.

"I didn't really like Rose when I first met her," said a voice to my other side. With a start, I realized that Christian had woken up and was joining in the conversation. "I thought she was arrogant and annoying, and hell-bent on stealing Lissa away from me. And what's funny is that she thought the exact same thing about me." He chuckled softly. "But then she saved Lissa. And she saved me. And then she saved countless others at St. Vladimir's during that attack. And that's what makes her an amazing friend and person – that she can't see something suffer and not go charging in to save it. That's why I grew to love Rose as a friend. She has one of the biggest hearts I know."

I smiled. Christian wasn't one for talking about his feelings – I knew that much. To talk so much and so openly – I knew that meant he truly felt at ease here. I realized that the three of us were bonding, growing closer together. And it was all for love of Rose.

We spent most of the rest of the flight sharing our funniest stories about Rose. I tactfully decided to leave out the night we'd first had sex in the cabin, because I didn't think Janine would appreciate that. As the plane began its descent into Atlanta, though, our conversation tapered off. Christian got up to use the restroom. As we readied our seats for landing, I decided to ask Janine one last question.

"Janine? Do you – um – approve of me?"

Janine turned to me, confusion in her eyes. "What's that mean?"

"Do you approve of Rose and me?"

It was a question I probably should've asked a long time ago, but I felt it was important. Rose and I had started off as teacher and student and fallen in love, which was scandalous in every society I could think of, even among humans. It didn't help that we were both guardians. Then I'd become Strigoi, and when she'd come to kill me and release me from my undead state, I'd kept her hostage in Siberia, feeding off her and coming very close to turning her myself. After I'd been restored, I'd rejected her and broken her heart, before falling in love with her all over again and stealing her away from her then-boyfriend. And now we were properly together, except we were both guardians, which was still frowned upon. There were a lot of reasons why a parent might not approve of us.

Janine's expression softened. "Do you really need to ask that?"

I kept silent.

"Dimitri." Janine's voice was soft. "You saved Rose from an undeserved execution. You kept her safe when you were fugitives. And now you're with me, heading straight into a nest of Strigoi to save her. If I ever had any reason to disapprove of your relationship with my daughter, there would be none now. You are perfect for her, in every sense of the word."

I dipped my head in gratitude, happiness welling up inside me. "Thank you."

"Now no more sentimental nonsense," Janine ordered. "We've got a big job to do once we land."

I nodded. "Yes, boss."


	11. Chapter 11

Being Rose Hathaway, I of course tried to escape my Strigoi captors as they hauled me out of my prison cell and away to meet the Grand Master, whoever that was. Needless to say, resistance was utterly futile.

I eventually gave up in favour of trying to assess my surroundings the way I'd been taught to as a guardian, but there wasn't much to see. The Strigoi kept this place in almost pitch blackness, so dark that not even my dhampir eyes could pierce it. Even with Strigoi roughly holding my arms and hauling me through the corridors, I stumbled more than once on some unseen obstacle. It was something out of a horror movie.

Strigoi had no difficulty navigating in total darkness, however, and we wound through the corridors of what seemed to be a very large house. Suddenly, I saw light up ahead of me. My heartbeat sped up, only to slow down again when I realized it was electric light, not sunlight. It'd been foolish of me to expect anything else.

We emerged from almost total darkness into a well lit room. It wasn't large, but it was big enough for a work desk, a swivel chair and a pair of Strigoi posted on either side of the room. A swift glance and assessment of their stance told me they'd once been guardians.

Seated in the swivel chair was a man, his back to me. His hair was greying, and he was tall – that was all I could tell from behind.

"Grand Master," said the Strigoi clutching my right arm in a vice-like grip, "we bring you Rose Hathaway."

The swivel chair turned around, and I prepared to spit out one of the many witty quips I'd been preparing on my way here. Instead, my mouth dropped open, and I found myself speechless. This was not something I'd expected.

"Hello, Rose," said Robert Doru.

 **~~Page Break~~**

To say that I'd had a complicated relationship with Robert Doru was a huge understatement.

Robert was an illegitimate royal, born of a non-royal mother and a Dashkov father. His half brother was Victor Dashkov, who, in his desperation to cure himself of his chronic and fatal disease, had kidnapped Lissa and tried to force her to heal him – an act which had landed him in one of the Moroi world's highest-security prisons. Lissa, Eddie and I had broken him out of jail in order to find Robert, a spirit user, who possessed the secret of restoring Strigoi to their original forms. It was thanks to him that Dimitri had been restored by Lissa, and Robert had later gone on to restore another Strigoi, Sonya Karp. It was just part of the amazing spirit Robert wielded.

Or rather, used to yield. Robert Doru was now Strigoi.

As always when I met Strigoi whom I'd once known, it was a shock to see Robert – so familiar, and yet so strange. His features, the Dashkov facial features, were still the same. His hair was the same colour – it was rare to find an old-looking Strigoi. Even the wrinkles on his face were the same. But those once-brown eyes were ringed with red now, and what had once been pale Moroi skin was now chalky white, the death pallor, the Strigoi pallor. The frailty that I'd always associated with Robert, due to both his old age and the toll that spirit took on his body and mind – gone. He looked strong, almost youthful. The dreaminess he'd once been prone to was gone too, and his red eyes were sharp and focused on me. And a cruel sneer played across his lips.

Seeing my speechlessness, the sneer deepened. "So, I've finally rendered Rose Hathaway speechless," he continued, sitting back.

I found my voice. "Robert?!"

"I see you remember my name. I wouldn't have expected it. You certainly didn't seem to remember me after I outlived my usefulness."

I cast my mind back to when I'd last seen Robert. It had happened when I'd been a fugitive, on the run from the Moroi authorities. Dimitri and I had been on a mission to find Lissa's long-lost sibling, a girl named Jill, who, as Lissa's only living relative, would allow Lissa to assume her throne and become queen. Robert and Victor had kidnapped Jill, hoping to use her as leverage for power. We'd found them, and in the ensuing struggle I'd accidentally killed Victor. Robert had tried to use spirit to bring Victor back to life, but Dimitri had run off with him. I remembered asking Dimitri where Robert was, and Dimitri's reply: _Unconscious, hidden in some bushes around the corner_.

Robert scowled. "I woke up filthy, scraped up, hidden under bushes like a corpse. I went back to where Victor's body had been – but of course, it was long gone, and so were all of you." I listened for grief in Robert's tone, but there was none, only anger. Strigoi were incapable of grief, but they were certainly capable of fury.

"I was…weak," Robert growled. "I had nowhere to go. Nowhere to hide. You hadn't left me anything, no money, no food, nothing. You abandoned me to my fate. I felt weak, and helpless, and _used_. But more than that? More than that, I wanted revenge for what had been done to me."

The Strigoi surrounding me growled.

"But what could I do?" Robert continued. "I was a frail old man, body weak with age, mind addled by insanity."

I could do nothing but stare.

"And then, I made a very wise decision. I decided never to be weak again. And so I walked around, walked around until I found an unsuspecting human…and then I awakened myself."

I recoiled. I didn't need a further explanation to know what had happened. There were two ways to turn Strigoi: to be drained of blood by a Strigoi and have them feed their blood back to you was the standard procedure. For Moroi, there existed another possibility: to drain a victim entirely of blood and kill them. That would turn Moroi dark, and they would lose all sense of their morals and goodness, become the twisted, evil monsters that were Strigoi. It was one of the most terrible crimes a Moroi could commit, and it was what Robert had done.

"It was worth it," Robert told me, almost conversationally, except for the tone of menace in his voice. "My mind was instantly clear. Spirit wasn't a part of me anymore – I was free to realize just how slowly I had been going insane. I stopped feeling those awful hurt feelings, as well – stopped feeling betrayed. And I cherished my new clarity of mind. I was strong again, too, like a young man." He got up and walked towards me. "Strong enough to do this."

Before I could react, he had grabbed me by the arms and hurled me against the wall. Stars burst behind my eyes and pain exploded across my body. I sank to the ground in a haze of pain, hearing cruel laughter from the other Strigoi.

"Is that all you've got, old man?" I panted. "Gotta love your family. First Natalie, now you? What do the Dashkovs love so much about Strigoi?"

Robert was in front of me in a second, looking down at me. "Natalie turned because of loyalty to her father," he growled. "Me? I turned because I hated you, and I craved revenge."

I thought of how we'd treated Robert, and my heart twisted in guilt. We'd used him to get what we wanted, and then discarded him like a used bag. I hadn't even thought about Robert until today. I shook my head. "Robert, I'm sorry…"

He laughed harshly. "Now she apologizes! Well, it's too late, Rose, because I'm beyond caring. I'd like to thank you, actually, for what you've done, Rose. Because you didn't just motivate me to turn Strigoi." He looked down at me, his red eyes cold, a cruel twist to his lips. "You've signed the death warrant of the Moroi race."


	12. Chapter 12

**Rose**

"You're mistaken," I said firmly, "that'll never happen. I'd never betray the Moroi."

Robert laughed. "What amuses me," he said as he moved away, "is that I actually believe you. You'd never willingly betray the Moroi – you'd never betray Vasilisa. But, you see, you already have. Just by leading me to turn, you've signed all their death warrants."

"You're not making any sense, old man," I retorted. "Maybe spirit's still having more of an effect on your brain than you thought."

Robert sneered. "You wouldn't know, now that your bond's gone."

I tried to hide my shock. Without his spirit powers, Robert shouldn't have been able to see that Lissa and I weren't bonded anymore.

"The whole reason I turned was because I felt weak," Robert continued. "And because I wanted revenge for Victor. But now, I can appreciate just how small Victor is, in the scheme of things. Insignificant." He smiled coldly. "Again, it's amazing how much my mind cleared after I turned."

I knew what had happened. As a Moroi, Robert had loved Victor deeply, and Victor had loved him back. They'd been brothers, after all. With his turning, Robert had lost his ability to love, and regarded the memory of Victor with coldness the way he'd see everything else.

"But I still want you to hurt," Robert was saying. "I still want you and Belikov and Vasilisa and the entire Moroi world to hurt. And that's the beauty of it. With my mind clear, without spirit poisoning it and driving me insane, I'm free to take my role in the world, as I always should have been: a leader."

 _The Grand Master_. My mind scrambled to keep up.

"You can probably see that I've risen quite quickly through the ranks of Strigoi," Robert continued. "It's only been a few months, after all, and yet I've assumed this position of power, become a Grand Master among them. They owe their loyalty to me."

I glanced quickly at the Strigoi dotted through the room. In their eyes, I saw respect – a twisted, evil respect, but respect all the same. I didn't see loyalty. Strigoi had no loyalty to anyone but themselves. These Strigoi respected Robert for what he could do for them, but I suspected the moment he outlived his usefulness they would tear him to pieces the way they would each other.

"I started gathering more followers." Robert was pacing in front of his desk now. "I found the most powerful Strigoi in the region and allied myself to them – and those who crossed me, I killed." He smiled, and I shivered. This bloodthirstiness wasn't what I was used to from what had once been a docile (yet emotionally unstable) man. "I won their respect, I won their servitude through my ability to kill. Did you really not notice the attacks on Moroi and dhampirs over the East Coast? Who do you think orchestrated them?"

My blood ran cold. There had indeed been Strigoi attacks up and down the East Coast, but we'd dismissed it as coincidence. What else could it be? The Strigoi were disorganized, and had no unity – at least, they hadn't until now. If Robert had assumed command of them and was sending them into attacks like a general, this boded very badly for the future of the Moroi.

"And the whole time, I was drawing up plans," Robert said. He was gloating now, revelling in his own brilliance. "Plans to strike back at the Moroi. They've grown fat, lazy and stupid, even as their numbers drop. It's time we sent a message to them once and for all."

My heart began to race. "You're going to launch an attack on Court."

Robert glanced over at me, and nodded. "Maybe you're not as stupid as you look, Rose."

"You can't do that!" I blurted out. "There're wards. And the guardians will stop you! You have no idea what you're going up against."

"Actually, Rose," Robert said, "I do. You forget, I was Moroi myself not too long ago. And not just any Moroi, a royal. I know their schemes, and I know their machinations, all too well. They're too busy backstabbing, manipulating and scheming at Court to notice the threat that's right under their noses. By the time they notice, it'll be far too late for them. And once Court has fallen, the Moroi world will crumble. Moroi everywhere will panic, and flee, and expose themselves – and it'll be good eating for the Strigoi." He bared his fangs, and laughed.

I was sweating. "And what're you going to do with me?"

"You?" Robert's eyes narrowed.

"If you think I'm going to help you invade Court, you're crazy!"

"Oh, Rose. So self-centred." Robert's gaze was mocking. "You're even stupider than I thought if you think I need your help. No, we're going to keep you until the day we strike at Court – and I promise you, it will be soon. We're almost ready. Strigoi are gathering from all over the country and the world, and we'll soon have the numbers to attack. And you're going to sit by my side and watch as first the guardians, then the royals, fall one by one." He was pacing forward now, speaking faster and faster. "You're going to watch Vasilisa and Belikov die, and you're going to know it's your fault. And then, I'm going to kill you, and you will die knowing that you brought everything you love to destruction."

He stopped right in front of me. His red eyes were burning with intensity and hatred. Then, he stepped back, and chuckled.

"It's not like I have anything to fear from you anyway, Rose. Now, take her back to her cell," he ordered the Strigoi guards. They moved forward, and I tried to resist, but as before, they restrained me all too easily with their numbers and their Strigoi strength.

I tried to spit at him, but suddenly, his eyes widened. "Oh, and by the way," he told the guards, "don't let her sleep naturally. Drug her. Give her some form of chloroform. That'll stop any spirit users who may want to contact her – through the drug-induced haze, spirit dreams won't be able to make the connection."

"You won't get away with this!" I called as I was led out.

"Oh, Rose," came Robert's mocking reply. "I already have."


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys! Sorry for the loooooong break, but I've been really busy with school related stuff. Anyway, that's all over now, so here's the next chapter!**

 **Dimitri**

Atlanta was widely known among American Moroi to be one of the country's biggest Strigoi hubs. That was why, even as we exited the airport in broad daylight, we were on the alert.

The sun shone down on Christian's pale skin, and I knew we couldn't spend too long in the sunlight. "Let's find a car," I said.

Once we'd rented one and were on our way to downtown Atlanta, Christian said, "What's the plan, boss?"

I turned to Janine, only to find her staring expectantly in my direction. She was waiting for me to give the orders. I found that astonishing, given her seniority and her many more years of experience.

"Let's find an area frequented by Moroi," I suggested. "Perhaps they'll be able to point out areas that have seen increased Strigoi activity recently."

"And if that doesn't work?" Christian asked.

I didn't respond, and it fell to Janine to answer. "Then we hunt Strigoi."

I didn't want to think about how difficult it would be to hold down and interrogate a Strigoi. I'd done it before, and it hadn't been easy. I hoped it wouldn't come to that, especially not with a Moroi there.

We sped into central Atlanta as the dying rays of the sun illuminated the city, turning the glass towers golden. Choosing a busy area in the hopes of spotting Moroi or dhampirs, we parked our car and headed onto what appeared to be a busy shopping street.

At sunset, it was still early enough for humans to be up and around, and it was also the beginning of the Moroi day. Still, as we looked around, most of the shoppers appeared to be human. That didn't surprise me. Moroi and dhampirs who chose to live among humans had to keep a low profile.

We stood there for maybe an hour as human shoppers brushed past us. Janine and I were trained guardians and simultaneously scanned the street for signs of danger, with Christian sandwiched between us in a protective gesture.

I was about to suggest that we try another area when Christian pointed. "There, on the other side of the street."

Janine and I looked where he'd pointed, and sure enough, a Moroi woman was weaving between the human crowds on the far side of the street. She was blonde and in her mid-twenties, and didn't appear to be worried or concerned, but nevertheless she kept a brisk pace. She was dressed casually in a T-shirt and jeans. We started to follow her from a slight distance.

She turned suddenly and ducked into a small door that I hadn't noticed in my haste to follow her. Exchanging glances, my companions and I crossed the road and followed her into the door.

It was just a small bar, starting to fill up with human patrons. At each of the tables, a small candle burned in the centre. The Moroi woman was heading for the counter. From the way the bartender greeted her, she was probably a waitress coming in to work the evening shift.

I knew three of us might alarm her, so I turned to Janine and Christian. "Could you two grab a table? I'll ask her a few questions, and then join you once I have some answers."

They obeyed without question, and I headed to the bar just as the Moroi woman reemerged from the back, now wearing an apron. When she saw me, she raised her eyebrows.

"I didn't expect to see a guardian sitting at the bar by himself tonight," she said, keeping her voice low enough that the humans around us couldn't hear. "We don't get too many dhampir patrons."

"I'm Dimitri Belikov," I said. "I'm here on royal business, and I'd appreciate any help you could give me."

Her eyebrows inched further up her forehead. "The queen sent you?" she inquired. When I nodded, she jerked her head towards the seat. "Take a seat. Let me get you a drink, on me."

I nodded in thanks as she poured me a glass of beer. "Thank you."

She handed it to me and wiped her hands – calloused hands, I noted. This woman had known outside work. "I'm Amelia. Amelia Lewandowski. What can I help you with?"

"Strigoi," I said bluntly. "Have there been any increases in Strigoi activity in any part of Atlanta lately?"

A flicker of unease showed in Amelia's eyes, but unlike most Moroi, she didn't recoil from the subject of Strigoi – more credit to her. "Yes," she said. "There's a neighbourhood down in south Atlanta. It's famous among humans for gang activity, but Moroi and dhampirs living in the area know that it's also a Strigoi hotspot. Recently, there've been more Strigoi attacks there, even Strigoi sightings by some lucky dhampirs who got away."

I nodded gravely. That might not necessarily be where Rose was, but it was a good lead, and one we had to investigate. "Thank you." I turned to go.

Amelia grabbed my wrist before I could, showing faster than normal reflexes for a Moroi. My eyes widened, impressed. "Wait. If you're going there, you need backup." I opened my mouth to protest, but she cut me off. "That area's dangerous. And you'll need someone who knows the area well to go with you."

"I really don't think that's a good idea," I said. "We're going to investigate a rumour, and if it turns out to be true there could be a lot of Strigoi there. We don't want to risk any Moroi lives."

"Oh yeah?" Amelia nodded at Christian. "What about him?"

Christian, sitting at a table with Janine, looked startled to be noticed.

"That's different," I said. "He's key to the investigation."

Amelia quirked an eyebrow. "Don't baby me," she said hotly. "I'm not like most Moroi. I've trained in self-defence, and I want to hunt Strigoi. And," she said before I could interrupt again, "I'm a fire user."

As if on cue, the candle at Christian and Janine's table erupted into flame. Immediately, Janine snatched a glass of water from an adjacent table and chucked its contents onto the fire, extinguishing it immediately. Christian, however, stared wide-eyed at the charred candle, then turned to face Amelia. His eyes glinted, knowledge kindling in their blue depths as he dipped his head, acknowledging another fire user.

"If I can be any help to the queen, I want to be," said Amelia. "Strigoi have attacked me before, and I lit them up. I won't hesitate. Let me go with you."

I stared at her. Here was an oddity in all senses of the word. Amelia was scandalous by any Moroi standard – a Moroi who used magic offensively and was prepared to face Strigoi head on. My guardian training was screaming in my head, reminding me of the guardian mantra: _They come first_. Moroi lives couldn't be put in danger by combating Strigoi. And I didn't even know this woman – she couldn't be trusted with this mission.

I shook my head. "I'm sorry. We have to do this alone."

 **Reviews please!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey everyone! And so the story continues:**

 **Dimitri**

Amelia argued some more but finally relented, instead wishing me luck as I headed off. Still, I couldn't forget the look of disappointment in her eyes as I left with Christian and Janine.

We piled into our rented car and I drove as directed, leaving the bright and busy, human-filled streets and entering a seedier, quieter area of town. Here, the buildings were run-down and dilapidated. I wasn't surprised – Strigoi tended to base their activities in areas least likely to attract attention.

"What's the plan?" Christian asked as we looked for a place to park. "How're we going to find Strigoi headquarters?"

I answered grimly. "We find a Strigoi."

There was really no alternative. We didn't know where in this neighbourhood the Strigoi would be based. Our only choice was to find a Strigoi and hopefully restrain him/her until we could extract some useful information.

Leaving the car, I shifted at once into my most serious guardian mode. It was night, and the Strigoi could be anywhere. Danger could be anywhere. Glancing to my side, I could tell Janine felt the same. Her body was stiff, her eyes flicking alertly from side to side.

Moroi lacked our guardian training, and so we sandwiched Christian between us. He shot me a resentful look but, to my relief, didn't protest out loud. He understood the threat.

We prowled silently through the neighbourhood. Houses lined the street we stood on, illuminated only by faint streetlights. It was very, very quiet. Even I knew something was wrong. It wasn't that late, and there should've still be humans up and about, moving around. But no. There was nothing but silence and the soft sound of our careful footsteps.

And then, just what I'd been prepared for: a rustle of leaves. Janine and I instantly turned to face the sound, so that when the Strigoi pounced at us, we were ready.

This Strigoi evidently wasn't the smartest. A smart Strigoi would've been able to approach his prey silently, without alerting them to his presence. This one had warned us with his noise-making, and found us prepared. Janine slashed his arm with her stake, and he snarled in pain. I went for him then, resisting the urge to stab my stake into his heart. I wrestled him to the ground, Janine joining me on the other side. He bucked and kicked, and we struggled to hold on. A moment later, I felt Christian joining us, holding down his legs. They were weaker than we were, but I felt a stab of admiration for him. Most Moroi would freeze up at the sight of a Strigoi.

The Strigoi continued to lash defiantly, snarling and spitting. It was all we could do to hold on. I thought I'd better get onto it.

"Where's the Grand Master?" I snarled at him.

He sneered back at me. "You think I'm stupid enough to tell you?"

I responded by making a deep gash in his chest with my stake, and he howled in pain.

"Where is he?" Janine demanded. "You're going to tell us either way."

The Strigoi looked at us with hatred in his eyes. "I'll never tell you."

All of a sudden, I felt heat flare behind me, and the Strigoi screamed. Christian had set his feet on fire. The flames progressed up his legs, and stopped sharply at his waist. The Strigoi writhed in agony.

"Where is the Grand Master?" I repeated, my voice hard.

Pain filled his red-ringed eyes. "154 Riverdale Drive," he gasped out. "White house."

That was good enough for me. My stake snaked forward into his heart. He howled again, writhing one last time, before falling still. At once, the flames were extinguished. I turned to Christian, nodding my thanks. "154 Riverdale Drive," I repeated. "Let's go."

 **~~Page Break~~**

We called the Alchemists first – it wouldn't do for a human to find a half-charred corpse in public. Then we were on our way.

Using Google Maps on Christian's iPhone, we managed to track down 154 Riverdale Drive. It looked innocent enough, but looks could be deceiving. Quite a small house, so chances were there weren't that many Strigoi inside.

"I wish I could tell you what to prepare for," I told my team as we crouched outside, "but I don't know what's going to be in there. So – be ready for anything."

They nodded, and I met Christian and Janine's eyes in particular. They looked grim. They understood that there was a very real possibility we wouldn't be coming back from this. But I looked at them and I knew they loved Rose, and wanted to see her safe, and were willing to die for her.

"Listen," I said gruffly. "I really appreciate what you've done – giving up your lives to come help me. It means a lot to me, and it'll mean a lot to Rose. So – thank you, both of you. And I'll lay down my life for Rose – just as I'll lay down my life for both of you."

It was true. We'd bonded over this mission, forged a relationship that nothing could break. We were a team now, working together towards a common goal. I was going to say something else, but Janine cut me off.

"We're in this together," she said softly.

I looked at her and nodded my thanks. "Let's go," I said, back in business mode.

We approached the door to the house, keeping utterly silent. At my nod, Christian caused the front door to burst into flames. Janine kicked the flaming door down, and we burst into the house, every bit as badass as Rose would've loved us to be.

Strigoi at once surrounded us, their chalk-white faces snarling. I launched myself into an attack. The truth was, I loved fighting. I lost all sense of time, of my troubles and emotions, of anything but the fight. It was something I hadn't confessed even to Rose – it was just something so private to me. Ironically, the fight was where I found peace. I highly suspected Rose felt the same way.

Strigoi came towards me, but I lost myself in the lust of battle, my eyes blurring with a blood-red haze. My stake flashed out again and again. More and more, I relied on brute force, flinging my enemies aside and finishing them off while they were temporarily incapacitated. Elsewhere, I was dimly aware of Janine fighting like she was taking on hell itself, her face locked in a snarl as she kicked and dodged and staked. In my peripheral vision, I caught glimpses of bright fire as Christian set Strigoi alight.

Eventually, though, I began to surface from my battle lust. We were still fighting, and there were still Strigoi. I knew that, eventually, we'd be overwhelmed. I managed to meet Janine's eyes. _Rose_ , I mouthed. She nodded and yelled to Christian, who finished off five Strigoi at once with a fiery blast. I was impressed – all those secret trainings with fire magic hadn't gone to waste.

Lissa had said Rose was in a basement, so even while I was fighting, I'd subconsciously been taking notes on my surroundings, and noticed a stairwell leading downstairs. We made a beeline for that stairwell now, fighting off Strigoi along the way.

Fighting our way downstairs, we saw a relatively deserted corridor. Most of the Strigoi, it seemed, had made their way to the ground floor to do battle with us. My smile was fleeting – the Strigoi weren't as coordinated as we'd feared. Nevertheless, as we advanced through the corridor, we caught sight of a couple of Strigoi standing guard in front of a door. They rushed at us, but suddenly their arms caught fire. In their yelps of terror and surprise, Janine and I finished them off easily. We kicked open the door they'd been guarding.

At once, I was hit by a heavy, cloying scent. It was some kind of gas, I thought. The door opened up into a dimly lit room with absolutely no furniture in it. Curled in the centre of the floor was –

My world disappeared.

Roza.

In a moment, I was rushing to her, gathering her into my arms. Her head lolled backwards, but she was warm, and her heartbeat, and she was alive. Janine and Christian stood at the doorway. I could tell from their conflicted expressions that they wanted to run to her too, but were holding back, reminding themselves of their duty.

Then I forgot about them again, and cradled Rose in my arms. Her hair smelled so sweet, and as I shifted her she moaned slightly, under her breath. My heart leaped with love. She was all right, she was okay, and nothing else mattered. I had her with me again.

I lifted her over my shoulder with one arm, and strode out. I wanted to carry her bridal-style out of here, but I knew we were going to go out fighting, and I needed at least one available arm to stab Strigoi.

Janine and Christian were at my side. Upstairs, we heard shouts and footsteps. The three of us looked at each other and at Rose's unconscious form, draped over my shoulder, and we nodded.

 _This is it_ , something seemed to say.

We charged forward as one, heading up the stairs and back to the ground floor.

And found it crawling with guardians.

 **Hey guys! I can't tell you how sorry I am that I vanished for seven months - an incredible lot has changed for me since June. But I'm back now!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Dimitri**

Two things, it seemed, had alerted the Moroi world to our whereabouts.

Firstly, Amelia had remained worried for us even after we'd gone off to save Rose, and had alerted the local guardians, who had already been on alert thanks to Lissa informing the Council of the threat of the Grand Master. They'd come here and heard the sounds of fighting, eventually reaching 154 Riverdale Drive and breaking in. They'd soon finished off the fight and all of the Strigoi had been killed.

Secondly, when we'd called the Alchemists to destroy the dead Strigoi we'd killed, they'd found the area full of guardians and had contacted their superiors, who in turn had liaised with the Moroi Royal Court. By then, news of the guardians' attack was beginning to spread, and the guardians and Alchemists were now working together to cover up the scene from nosy human eyes.

We'd fulfilled one of our mission parameters: to save Rose. She was unconscious, but a hastily summoned Moroi doctor had confirmed that she was just unconscious from chloroform and the gas we'd smelled in the room, and given a few hours, she'd eventually come to. And that was almost everything that mattered to me – that she was in my arms again. I hugged her and kissed her, murmuring softly to her that it was going to be all right. Once Janine had been convinced that she could let down her guard, even for a moment, she flung aside her stake and hugged her unconscious daughter, beginning to cry with relief. I was touched by the motherly love that poured out of her – this wasn't the tough, emotionless guardian that Moroi society had come to expect. Even Christian had come to hug her, unconscious though she was, and relief and joy had shone in his eyes, even though we hadn't found the Grand Master.

The Grand Master. Squads of guardians had combed 154 Riverdale Drive and found nothing – none of the Strigoi killed seemed to be the Grand Master either. It was largely thought that the Grand Master had happened to be away when we attacked, luckily for him. Now that this debacle had happened, it was unlikely that he'd be coming back at all. We'd lost our lead on him – at least until Rose regained consciousness. She might know who he was.

I sat on a chair, guardians milling around me, with Rose in my lap. I refused to let anyone except Janine and Christian touch her. My arms were wrapped around her, and I stroked her hair. She was all right, she was safe, and she was never going to be parted from me again.

Eventually, an Alchemist approached me, prim and proper. "Guardian Belikov," she greeted me. "There is an Alchemist-chartered plane waiting to take you, Lord Ozera and the two Guardians Hathaway back to the Moroi Royal Court, if you'll just step this way."

A wheelchair was brought forward for me to wheel Rose in, but I refused, instead lifting her into my arms. Janine and Christian joined me, and we exchanged relieved looks. We were safe, and we were going to go back to Court, with Rose. Together, we followed the Alchemist.

 **~~Page Break~~**

Rose didn't stir all the way back to Court. The Moroi doctor had assured us that whatever sedative the Strigoi had used on her was incredibly powerful, but I couldn't help worrying nevertheless. The touchdown at the private runway at Court jolted her awake, however, and she began to stir.

I was at her side in an instant. Christian started to go to her too but Janine motioned him backwards. "She'll be overwhelmed if we all go to her," she said, but I could see the longing in her eyes. She wanted to see, touch and hug her daughter.

"Rose," I said softly. "Roza. Roza. You're safe now."

Rose's eyes blinked open. That brownness, that bottomless chocolate brown eyes. My heart wanted to leap for joy. "D-Dimitri?" she muttered groggily. "This isn't – this isn't another dream? I'm going to be very pissed off if it is."

I huffed with laughter, and with relief. "No, Roza, it's me. You're safe now."

Her eyes opened properly, and she saw me. "Dimitri…" she breathed. "Dimitri! Lissa told me you were coming!"

She was going to say more, but I didn't hear any of it, because my lips were crushed against hers. She responded eagerly, kissing me back. The kiss started off hungry and heady, both of us needing reassurance that we were there for each other, but turned softer and more comforting.

Eventually, there was an uncomfortable little cough, and we broke away, panting. Rose grinned and touched the side of my unshaven face. "You need to shave, Comrade," she teased.

Then she turned and found Janine and Christian watching her. They'd been exposed to our very public display of affection, but all signs of discomfort vanished as Rose flung her arms out. Janine went to hug her at once, unshed tears shining in her eyes. "You're safe, Rose," she breathed. "You're safe."

Christian seemed reluctant, but joined in when Rose threw another arm around him. "All right, all right," he said gruffly, breaking away. "That's enough PDA for now."

"Oh, you guys!" Rose's eyes were shining. "You didn't have to come looking for me! I would've gotten out, even if Robert – " Her eyes suddenly widened in alarm. "Robert!"

"Robert who?" Christian asked.

"Robert Doru!"

Her frantic eyes met my puzzled ones. "We have to get to Lissa!" she exclaimed.

"We've just landed at Court," I said, gesturing outside the window. "But what's going on? And what does Robert Doru have to do with anything?"

Rose took a calming breath, then faced us. "He's the Strigoi Grand Master."

 **~~Page Break~~**

"I can't believe it," said Lissa faintly.

Once we'd been cleared to disembark the plane, Rose had been off and sprinting towards the buildings of Court. It had been all the rest of us could do to keep her in sight. Once she'd been reunited with Lissa, there'd been more tears, and more hugs, with Lissa sobbing out apologies and Rose offering her reassurances. But the relieved atmosphere had turned sober very quickly when Rose had told us about Robert Doru being the Grand Master and his plans for an attack on Court. Now, we sat in shell-shocked silence.

"I can't believe it," Lissa said again. Neither could I. This was the Moroi world's worst nightmare come true: a veritable, coordinated Strigoi army, taking orders from a general (of sorts), who planned to strike at the stronghold of the Moroi race. It wasn't unheard of for Strigoi to occasionally band together and attack areas of Moroi concentration – but this? A _de facto_ declaration of war on Moroi? This was unprecedented, and something we'd never faced before.

"It's my fault." I hung my head. "I shouldn't have left him in those bushes. He was unstable already from spirit use. I should've taken him with us…God, I could've prevented all of this…"

"It's not your fault," Rose said. "We all misjudged him, and we all underestimated him. And none of it matters now. What matters is that we've got an immediate threat which we need to face."

"The wards?" Janine said. Her motherly concern was gone now, and she was once again the cunning battle strategist she always had been. "You're sure the wards will be of no help?"

"I saw with my own eyes a human girl working for them," Rose responded. "She brought me food and drink. And I don't think she's the only human they've got working for them."

"No," Christian answered grimly. "She's not. We found more in Pittsburgh."

"Then they have a way to breach the wards," I said. "Humans can disable the wards with charmed stakes. Strengthening won't do much against them. We need to fortify our forces within Court right now."

Lissa nodded. Her expression hardened. This was Queen Vasilisa Dragomir of the Moroi, and she would not take this threat lying down. "I'll notify the Council right away, and we can commence battle preparations," she said. "Guardian Hathaway?"

She would never address Rose by anything so formal, and so Janine stepped forward. "Your Majesty?"

"Come with me. You're pretty good at offering logical explanations, right? And you've probably come up with a million battle tactics in your head."

"I don't know about a million, Your Majesty," Janine warned as she hurried after Lissa. Christian followed them, sparks flying from his fingers.

"He's going to want to fight," Rose remarked, turning to me. We were alone at last.

"We'll see what the Council says," I responded.

She bit her lip. "When Robert first talked to me about his plans, it sounded like they hadn't finished planning their attack yet. It sounded like they still needed some time to sort everything out. But now…"

"Now that you've escaped, they've lost their element of surprise," I finished. "They'll need to attack before we get too strong. Which means…"

Rose's face was grim. "We can expect an attack sometime very, very soon."


	16. Chapter 16

**Rose**

Battle preparations began almost immediately.

Lissa called an emergency meeting of all Moroi and dhampirs gathered at Court. Royals and non-royals, guardians and Moroi mingled together in the ensuing haste. The sun had just risen, so many looked sleepy and bleary-eyed.

Dimitri, my mother, Christian and I stood by Lissa's side as she gave the speech, getting everyone up to speed on the imminent threat. Cries of dismay sounded when she told them about the Grand Master, swelling into a panicked chorus with the news of the impending attack.

"I know this is a grave threat," Lissa called out over the noise as the room threatened to dissolve into chaos. "Perhaps the gravest threat we as Moroi have ever had to face. But as we've done before, we will face this threat together. Preparations for attack and defence fortifications commence as of this moment. Everyone at Court will be expected to pitch in."

The crowd began to quiet down, and I could tell Lissa was unconsciously using some of her spirit-induced charm to hold the audience's attention. From up close, I could see her lip tremble slightly, and even without our former bond, I could tell she was terrified. This was, after all, something no Moroi monarch had ever done before.

"Protective magic around Court will be strengthened," Lissa called. "We'll need expert practitioners to come forward and renew existing wards, as well as additional magical measures. The guardians will step up their patrols, and by nightfall we'll have the borders of Court under constant surveillance." She paused for a moment, and spoke again. "We have no way of knowing when the Grand Master and his Strigoi will attack. But the sun has just risen, and any Moroi who wish to leave Court under protection of sunlight – you have leave to do so."

I'd guessed there would be many Moroi who would choose to flee Court while the sun still shone, and judging from the nods of many Moroi in the crowd, I hadn't been wrong.

"For those Moroi who wish to stay, however," Lissa continued, "you are more than welcome, your support and help greatly appreciated. And moreover, for those who wish to actively join the fight against the Strigoi…" She paused again, and her face took on a determined expression. "I invite you to fight at my side."

Gasps sounded from the crowd, and even I couldn't hide my surprise. Lissa was condoning Moroi fighters, a cause she'd always supported, but for the Moroi queen to announce that she would be engaging in direct combat herself? That would reverberate through the Moroi world.

My mom's head whipped around to stare at Lissa, her expression alarmed. "Your Majesty," she murmured in a low voice, "are you sure that's wise? The guardians won't be able to guarantee your safety."

"I'm the queen of the Moroi," Lissa responded through gritted teeth, "and I will lead my people into battle." She hesitated, then spoke again. "And Janine? Call me Lissa."

My mom's expression was almost comical in its surprise. Lissa raised her voice again, speaking once more to the crowd at large.

"Guardian reinforcements are being flown in from around the country as we speak. It's been an honour and a privilege serving as your queen." She ended her speech. There was a momentary silence, and then someone began to clap. Within seconds, tumultuous applause thundered, and Lissa smiled and waved in the face of cheers from her adoring subjects.

She turned aside to me and my three saviours as the crowd began to disperse. "You three are in charge of planning," she said quietly. "Rose, Dimitri, Janine? You're all going to be supervising battle fortifications and guardian patrols. Christian? You're going to deal with recruiting Moroi who want to fight, and making sure they actually can. There's no point in actually sending them into battle if they're just going to get killed."

Christian nodded solemnly. "Of course, Your Majestic Majesty."

Lissa rolled her eyes. "I'll deal with the fallout from this. Now, let's go."

 **~~Page Break~~**

The Moroi Royal Court is an amazing place to be when it's preparing for war.

I spent the entire day (the entire _human_ day) running around, supervising guardian patrols and overseeing defensive measures being implemented. Dimitri organized arriving guardians into squads and teams, to better face off the Strigoi, and my mom – well, she was my mom. She did everything Dimitri and I were doing and more, essentially running the entire guardian force at Court.

I saw guardians performing drills, guardians on active duty, guardians on watch. The local dhampir community was mobilized and active like almost never before. Lissa had been true to her word – guardians were arriving from all over. This was a threat to the whole Moroi and dhampir nation, and the entire nation would rise to counter it.

The Moroi, for a change, were not inactive. Sure, many of them were fleeing the Court, and I saw lots of families piling into cars alongside hastily packed suitcases and peeling out of the compound, no doubt heading for the nearest airport to get as far away from the Court as possible while the sun still shone. But more Moroi than I'd realized had decided to stay and help with the war effort. I saw Moroi shoring up our magical defences, placing wards in place and adding more barriers of magical protection. I even saw some earth users setting up some quicksand booby traps, adding some compulsion spells to ensure that only the undead could activate them.

Humans might be able to stake our wards, but with so many additional layers of magic? It would slow down the invading forces a lot, giving us time to swoop in for the kill. I wouldn't want to be a Strigoi invader anytime soon.

And when Dimitri and I went to visit Christian and see how his recruits were faring…

"Whoa."

I stared, dumbfounded. Christian had stationed his Moroi troops outside on a field, and gotten hold of some dummies as practice Strigoi. At least seventy Moroi were here, using their powers in ways I'd never have imagined. Then again, I'd never seen offensive magic in practice before, so there was plenty I couldn't imagine.

"They weren't all at Court when the news broke," Christian explained, "but when they heard the news, they came at once. These are all Moroi who want to fight, but who haven't been allowed to. Now, they can finally give full rein to their powers." I could see the passion shining in his eyes. My sarcastic friend had finally found his niche.

"You've done good, Ozera," I exclaimed, admiring his work.

"Little dhampir."

My heart stopped. I slowly raised my eyes, and met a pair of green ones.

"Adrian," I breathed.

My ex-boyfriend stood there, hands in pockets, handsome as ever. He wore a neutral expression, and raised an eyebrow. "What's going on here?"

I tried to form words. "I…"

A small smile formed on Adrian's lips. "Relax, little dhampir," he said. "I'm not here to yell at you. I'm here to join the fight." He nodded at Christian. "Let's go, cousin."

Christian clapped Adrian's shoulder, and the pair turned to go.

"Adrian?" I blurted out.

Adrian turned. "Yeah?"

I hesitated. "Could we – talk? After all this is over?"

Adrian gave me one of those infuriating cocky smiles he was so known for. "Sure. There'll be plenty of time for talking later." With that, he turned.

Dimitri and I headed back to see the other guardians. "Well," he said, "sounds like you're out of hot water with Adrian."

I looked at him. "You're not jealous, are you?"

He scoffed. "Roza, don't you know me better than that? I didn't like the way things ended with you and Adrian any more than you did. I'm eager for you to change that."

Gratitude swelled up in me, and without thinking I hugged him. "Thanks, Comrade."

He relaxed against me, and rubbed my arm as he returned my embrace. "Roza."

"This might be it, mightn't it?" I said into his chest. "This could be our last fight."

Dimitri drew me back and held me at arm's length, an eyebrow cocked. "Well, then, it's been a pleasure knowing you." He pretended to cock a hat. "Partner."

I laughed with unexpected delight. I'd teased him for so long over his western novels and his dusters and his love of cowboys, and now he was actually playing along.

"I love you," he told me softly.

"I love you too," I told him. Our lips met in a tender kiss. When we drew back, I knew I wouldn't have to say anything more.

"Let's get ready to kick some Strigoi ass," I told him.


	17. Chapter 17

**Hi guys! I'm so sorry it's taken months to get back to this story, but I took a bit of a break from the Internet. I'm back now though, so:**

 **Dimitri**

Guardians were trained to rise early and at the slightest suggestion of danger. When the first shouts of alarm pierced the air at the Court, therefore, Rose and I were up like bullets.

We pulled on our clothes frantically, already hearing racing footsteps outside our door as the guardians of the Court went to war. Rose raced to her station, while I hurried to my post at the head of the guardian regiments.

Janine was already there, barking orders at the first groups of guardians who'd assembled, silver stakes in hand. As I came to meet her, her eyes met mine, and she dipped her head in a quiet gesture of acknowledgement. This was war – there was no time to waste on words. I joined her in assigning various squadrons of guardians to different areas of the Court, to defend the quarters of royal Moroi and to ensure the integrity of our overall defence plans.

Suddenly, a yell rose above the clamour of assembling dhampirs. "The first line of defences has been breached!"

Janine's head whipped around in disbelief. "What?" she hissed. I knew what she was thinking – it was too soon. The Moroi had spent hours in the sunlit day augmenting and amplifying existing anti-Strigoi magical defences surrounding the entire Court complex, users of all five elements coming together to fortify our wards. With magic of that extent, even with help from humans, we should've had much more time before the Strigoi managed to break through.

Rapidly, Janine began issuing orders to guardians as fast as she could think of them. When the yell came, five minutes later, that the second line of defences had been breached, my heart sank. We hadn't bought ourselves enough time. That could only mean one thing:

"Numbers," I breathed. Janine nodded grimly, knowing what I knew. The only explanation for the rapid failures of our defences was that the Strigoi had come in even bigger numbers than we had anticipated. The presence of so many Strigoi would weaken wards as it was. We had no idea what kind of force we were about to face, but it was going to be an enormous army.

"This may be it," Janine breathed to me. "It was an honour to serve beside you."

"Likewise," I murmured.

The air around us somehow contracted briefly – we all felt it. It contracted once, twice, and I realized what it was as I turned to stare at the invisible wards, our third and last line of magical defence, immediately surrounding the Court. The wards pulsed one more time – and then they broke. We all felt the inward implosion of defensive magic. Within seconds, dark figures were scrambling over the walls, and with a roar, the Moroi world went to war as the undead came flooding into our Court.

 **~~Page Break~~**

It was bizarre, but battle filled me with a serenity that few other things did. I was filled with calm as I blocked, and stabbed, and repeated. Monster after monster hurled itself at me, face open in a snarl, and my silver stake rose to meet them. With each Strigoi I dispatched, I felt a little calmer. It was in battle as a guardian that I found myself.

Later estimates would put the number of attacking Strigoi at five to seven hundred, an unprecedented number of Strigoi in one place. I had no way of knowing that at the time, but looking around at the chaos, I saw the sheer numbers the Grand Master had amassed against us. This was a battle to destroy the Moroi civilization.

Guardians grappled with shrieking Strigoi. I saw silver stakes flash, and vampire after evil vampire fell under the terrible vengeance of the Court. Guardians were more than a match for Strigoi, one on one. Still, though, the Strigoi numbers were themselves an advantage. There were just too many of them. With a sinking heart, I realized that for every Strigoi I saw fall, another guardian or two succumbed as well. The guardians were impossibly, inconceivably, losing the battle.

It was lucky for us we weren't the only ones fighting.

A flash of fire caught my eye. I saw Christian advancing on a howling group of undead. His eyes burned with savage anger as he unleashed a ball of fire from between his hands. The Strigoi before him went up like kindling, but Christian didn't stop there – angry red flames poured from his palms, completely incinerating the threat. To his credit, Christian barely paused, simply turning his hard gaze onto the next threat.

I saw other fire users similarly burning up their foes. It made sense, given that fire was one of the only ways to kill a Strigoi, but that didn't mean other Moroi were defenceless. In a flash of shock, I noticed Mia Rinaldi, former student at St. Vladimir's Academy, turning her water powers onto an unwary Strigoi woman. Water coalesced out of the air and formed a ball around the Strigoi's head. She screamed and clawed at the water around her face, suffocating. It wouldn't kill her, but it was enough of a distraction for a guardian's silver stake to bury itself in her chest. With a grim smile, Mia dispatched another threat by shooting a water jet at him, sending him crashing right into the path of some guardians and fire users.

Air users were using the air to propel the Strigoi against walls, stunning them. Some air and fire users were working together, using their magic to create miniature firestorms around the Strigoi that burned their forms away. Meanwhile, many of the enemy were falling into the booby traps set for them by earth users, carefully set to ensure only the undead could fall into them. A Strigoi man came lunging at me, his fangs snapping, when suddenly the earth beneath him turned to quicksand. Howling in surprise and fear, he sank into the ground, where he suddenly caught flame. He only thrashed a few times before he stopped moving.

I looked around in amazement at the battle scene unfolding before me. The Moroi, showing me how terrible the elements could truly be. Guardians, working together with their Moroi masters. History was in the making here – this had never happened before, and I had never dreamed of anything like this happening in my lifetime.

My thoughts were cut short when a Strigoi man landed in front of me. Given his short stature, he'd probably been human before being turned – unusual, that.

"What's the matter, Dimitri Belikov?" he snarled. "Afraid?"

Red tinged my vision as I came at him. We grappled in a fight, his gnashing fangs never far from my throat.

"You think you've won, haven't you?" the Strigoi jeered in my ear. "You think you're winning, but you're not. Where do you think the Grand Master is?"

"Hopefully about to join you in hell!" I lunged at him, stake raised, but he jerked away.

"Wrong!" the Strigoi purred. "Wrong, wrong! Where do you think your damn queen is, too? I hope you haven't left her defenceless."

My silver stake made contact with his stomach, and he howled as it burned his flesh. Within seconds, I had him pressed up against a wall, the stake to his heart.

"What do you mean?" I growled.

The Strigoi spat in my face. "Foolish dhampir, to think this was anything but a diversion. Even now, the Grand Master seeks your queen, to make her one of us. And once that happens, we will raze this Court to the ground and claim the vampire world for ourselves."

"Robert's looking for Queen Vasilisa? To turn her Strigoi?"

The Strigoi sneered. "As I said, foolish dhampir."

His words ended in a scream of pain as I drove the stake into his heart. I didn't even stop to watch him topple to the ground – I whipped around, searching frantically.

There. I spotted Rose, her dark hair swirling around her like a cloud. Her bottom lip was split and she had a fierce snarl on her face as she laid waste to the Strigoi around her. She looked like an avenging angel, gracefully beautiful as she whirled, spinning, stake in hand.

I made my way to her. "Rose!" I called as I cut through the Strigoi standing before me.

She blinked. "Dimitri! What – ?"

"We don't have time," I shouted back at her. "Robert's gone looking for Lissa."

Rose's face paled – she understood the gravity of the threat. The loss of the Moroi queen to the Strigoi would bring the already-unstable Moroi world to the brink of collapse. The Strigoi would prey on panicking Moroi in huge numbers. It could spell the end of our society.

She turned. "Where are –?"

"We're here." Janine and Christian stepped forward – I'd pulled them with me and explained hurriedly what was happening. Rose didn't even need to ask – from their expressions, she could tell that they were with us, to the end.

Rose's eyes hardened. "Then what're we waiting for? Let's go kick some Grand Master ass."

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